Department for Transport

Shared Spaces

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he plans to issue new guidance on shared spaces.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: Following the commitment in the Inclusive Transport Strategy, the Department is working with Transport Scotland on the research into inclusive street design. This is a collaborative project between the Scottish Government and Transport Scotland, which began in August and is scheduled to complete early next year. Following the conclusion of the research, we will consider the recommendations, and therefore how best to update our guidance.

Northern: Compensation

Sir David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much compensation Northern Rail has paid to passengers for delays and cancellations since the start of the current franchise.

Chris Heaton-Harris: The Department for Transport published data (1 October 2018) shows that Northern Rail paid almost £900,000 in passenger compensation since the start of the current franchise to 2017/18. This figure includes other discretionary compensation payments made following complaints of poor service, as well as payments for delays and cancellations.

Northern: Fines

Sir David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much Northern Rail has been fined for cancellations and partial cancellations since the start of the current franchise.

Chris Heaton-Harris: The number of cancellations and partial cancellations by Northern is monitored by the Rail North Partnership on behalf of the Department and Transport for the North. In line with the provisions of the Franchise Agreement, each year’s results are used to calculate an annual financial ‘performance sum payment’. Northern is required to reinvest this amount into performance improvement schemes aimed at raising performance for the benefit of passengers. The amount of these payments in each year is commercially confidential.

Railways: Berkshire

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the TfL Oyster fare zones scheme will be extended to cover Berkshire stations beyond West Drayton following the commencement of (a) the TfL Rail western section and (b) the full Elizabeth Line service.

Chris Heaton-Harris: Decisions about ticket media on Transport for London (TfL) Rail and the Elizabeth Line are a matter for TfL. However, TfL has announced that Oyster will not be extended to services beyond West Drayton, due to limitations with the system, which is now more than 15 years old. The Williams Rail Review, currently underway, is considering how best to improve the ticketing offer for passengers so that it is simple and fit for the twenty-first century.

A34: Accidents

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 5 September 2019 to Question 284860 on A34: Oxfordshire, what estimate he has made of the number of (a) deaths and (b) injuries on the A34 in 2018.

George Freeman: The table below shows the number of fatalities and all casualties in reported road accidents on the A34 in Oxfordshire in 2018. Number of fatalities and all casualties in reported road accidents on the A34 in Oxfordshire in 2018: FatalitiesAll casualties1179All casualties include fatalitiesSource: DfT STATS19

Railways: Merseyside

Ms Angela Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to improve rail connectivity between Wallasey and Liverpool.

Chris Heaton-Harris: Rail services between Wallasey and Liverpool are provided by Merseyrail. The management of Merseyrail is fully devolved to Merseytravel on behalf of Liverpool City Region, who would therefore be responsible for initiatives to improve connectivity between Wallasey and Liverpool.

Bypasses: Ipswich

Dr Dan Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on the environment of an Ipswich Northern Bypass; and if he will make a statement.

George Freeman: The Department requested Sub-national Transport Bodies (STBs) and regional groupings to provide advice by the end of July on their local road investment priorities for the Major Road Network (MRN) and Large Local Major (LLM) programmes. Transport East, who are the relevant regional body for the area, included the proposed Ipswich Northern Routes scheme in their advice. The Department will now carefully consider the evidence of the impact and potential benefits of the proposed scheme. We expect local authorities to demonstrate, among other things, the scheme’s value for money, deliverability and its impact and benefits to local residents and the environment. MRN investments should endeavor to help secure positive environmental enhancements in line with the Government’s 25 Year Environment Plan (A Green Future: Our 25 Year Plan to Improve the Environment published January 2018). Where negative impacts cannot be avoided, we expect scheme promoters to minimise and mitigate these impacts in line with existing requirements. Announcements on successful schemes will be made in due course.

Railways: Freight

Dr Dan Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans he has for a Felixstowe to Nuneaton freight rail link; and if he will make a statement.

Chris Heaton-Harris: Rail freight offers benefits for the environment, helps reduce road congestion and is important to UK businesses. The Williams Rail Review, currently underway, is considering how the rail industry can better respond to needs of the rail freight sector as it grows. The Felixstowe to Nuneaton rail corridor (F2N) is a strategically important freight route. In Control Period 5 (2014-2019), £65m was invested in upgrading the Felixstowe Branch Line, including a significant private-sector contribution from the port. The extra capacity delivered on the branch line will support up to 10 additional trains per day in each direction to move goods to and from the Port of Felixstowe (although further enhancements will be required to realise this in full). This investment means that from December, up to 38 trains per day will be able to run in each direction. In Control Period 6 (2019-2024), further funding is being made available to develop business cases for further freight enhancements on this vital corridor. Examples of F2N-related business cases under development include Haughley Junction redoubling, the Ely Area Capacity Enhancement, and Syston – Trent Junction enhancements (in Leicestershire).

West Coast Partnership Rail Franchise: Safety

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether it is his policy to retain a safety critical guard on each train on the First Trenitalia West Coast franchise.

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the existing locations of (a) train crew and (b) catering depots will be retained on the First Trenitalia West Coast franchise.

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the buffet car will be retained on all trains, including the new and updated fleet, on the First Trenitalia West Coast franchise.

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether all ticket offices on the First Trenitalia West Coast franchise will remain open with existing staffing levels and opening hours maintained.

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether (a) despatch staff, (b) shunters, (c) directly employed cleaners (d) customer service staff and (e) other front-line station staffing levels will be maintained on the First Trenitalia West Coast franchise.

Chris Heaton-Harris: The operational management of the franchise will be a matter for the operator, First Trenitalia West Coast, who can be contacted via First Group.

A34: Repairs and Maintenance

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 30 September 2019 to Question 290458 on A34, if his Department will take steps to ensure that the environmental impact assessment for the A34 improvement works conducted by the Highways Agency is published.

George Freeman: As with all Highways England schemes, once the A34 scheme is developed, Highways England will publish a summary of the environmental assessments on the relevant scheme pages of their website www.highwaysengland.co.uk.

Department for Transport: Data Protection

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will publish the memorandum of understanding sent from the Cabinet Office to his Department governing the sharing of GOV.UK user data with the Government Digital Service.

Chris Heaton-Harris: The Government Digital Service (GDS) is implementing end-to-end performance monitoring so that GOV.UK can be designed to ensure that people can access the information and services they need as easily as possible. Departments are enabling GDS to centrally collect data on site usage across the GOV.UK estate, to provide an end to end, anonymised view of how people interact with government online. In developing this project, both GDS and departments have taken into account both the data protection regime and other guidance like the Government’s Data Ethics Framework. Clear and robust Memorandums of Understanding set out the terms of the project. The MOUs outline the responsibilities of both the GDS and departments in a number of areas, including handling the relevant data to ensure there is no unauthorised access, loss, misuse, modification or disclosure. The MoUs will be regularly updated in line with the government’s commitment to continuous improvement in digital services and best practice in data and privacy standards. It is a long standing government policy to operate in the spirit of full transparency, and GDS plan to publish the document in due course.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

All Star Lanes

Mr Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether she has commissioned an investigation into whether the Directors of All Star Lanes which went into administration should be disqualified from being company directors; and if he will make a statement.

Kelly Tolhurst: When a company enters administration, the administrator must, usually within three months, provide a confidential report to the Insolvency Service on the conduct of the directors of the company. The Insolvency Service will assess the information received and will collect information from third parties including other government departments, to determine whether or not a full investigation is required. This may ultimately lead to director disqualification proceedings or other enforcement action.As the administration only occurred last week, the administrator’s report is not expected yet.

Living Wage

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent steps she has taken to encourage companies operating in the UK to ensure that workers throughout its supply chain are paid a living wage.

Kelly Tolhurst: Holding answer received on 30 September 2019



Through the National Living Wage (NLW) and National Minimum Wage (NMW) the Government helps to protect the lowest paid in society. In April, the Government increased the NLW by 4.9% to £8.21. This means that a full-time worker on the NLW will be £2,750 better off over the course of a year, compared to when the policy was first introduced. Employers are required by law to ensure that all workers due the NMW or NLW receive it. The Government takes tough action against the minority of employers who underpay the NMW. We have doubled the budget for NMW enforcement and compliance to £27.4 million since 2015. The Government also encourages employers to pay more than the NLW where they can but recognises that the ability to do so will vary across businesses and sectors.

Collective Bargaining

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans she has to encourage companies operating in the UK to ensure workers throughout its supply chain are able to engage in collective bargaining.

Kelly Tolhurst: Collective bargaining is largely a matter for individual employers, their employees and their trade unions. Where an employer refuses to recognise a union for collective bargaining, that union can apply to the Central Arbitration Committee (CAC) to be statutorily recognised. Unions that can demonstrate that they have majority support amongst workers for recognition for collective bargaining purposes in the workplace will secure statutory recognition from the CAC. The system in Great Britain is based therefore on the democratic wishes of workers in the workplace.

Small Businesses: Woking

Mr Jonathan Lord: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent steps she has taken to support businesses in Woking constituency.

Kelly Tolhurst: Through the Government’s ambitious Industrial Strategy, we want to make the UK the best place to start and grow a business, to create jobs and spread prosperity. The Enterprise M3 Local Enterprise Partnership, which covers Woking, received £219 million through the local growth fund to drive regional development. Since 2017, the LEP has invested £12 million to support Woking’s businesses, and recently agreed to invest £3 million to improve transport access to businesses in Woking. Business support for Woking's small enterprises is available through the LEP's Growth Hub. The Growth Hub provides a free, impartial, ‘single point of contact’ to help businesses in the area identify and access the right support for them at the right time no matter their size or sector. This support includes helping businesses prepare for Brexit.

Small Businesses: East Yorkshire

Sir Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps her Department has taken to ensure that small businesses in East Yorkshire are prepared for the UK leaving the EU.

Kelly Tolhurst: Holding answer received on 01 October 2019



The Department is maintaining efforts to ensure businesses across the UK are ready to leave the EU on 31 October. We are pursuing a range of actions to promote awareness and understanding of what businesses, including SMEs, need to do.We have published an SME Brexit guidance leaflet and launched a series of Get Ready Roadshows. These specifically target SMEs with information and advice and ensure intermediaries, such as banks and accountants, have the information needed to support businesses. We also recently unveiled a £10 million Business Readiness Fund for business organisations and trade associations to support businesses across the UK in understanding the steps they should take to prepare for 31 October.Along with key local partners, the Humber LEP and Growth Hub are playing an important role in helping to deliver events and provide information to support local businesses. We will also be hosting a Brexit Business Readiness Event in Hull on 3 October.

Retail Trade

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps she is taking to increase consumer confidence in high street retail.

Kelly Tolhurst: Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Service Industries: Unfair Practices

Sir David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when her Department plans to bring forward legislative proposals to tackle unfair practices in the hospitality sector in relation to (a) tips, (b) gratuities, (c) cover charges and (d) service charges.

Kelly Tolhurst: Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Flexible Working and Holiday Leave: Domestic Abuse

Paul Farrelly: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he plans to require employers to provide domestic abuse survivors with (a) flexible working arrangements and (b) a period of paid leave.

Kelly Tolhurst: Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Fusion Reactors

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment her Department has made of the effect of leaving Euratom on the (a) cost to the public purse of developing and (b) ability of the UK to develop commercially viable fusion power plants.

Chris Skidmore: As announced over the weekend, the government has just approved a ground-breaking commitment to fund the first five-year phase of the STEP programme costing £220m. This phase will complete detailed design and development work will allow the UK to maintain its world-leading status in fusion and enable cost estimates for the full programme to be made in detail. This will take into account any cost or programme changes that may or may not need to be made as a result of the U.K. leaving the Euratom treaty. The Government acknowledges the value of international collaboration in this and other scientific fields and is exploring all options for maintaining that collaboration after we leave the EU and Euratom.

Green Deal Scheme: Appeals

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 1 May 2019 to Question 246545 on Green Deal Scheme: Appeals, how many of the 107 outstanding cases referred to her have been with her office for (a) one, (b) two, (c) three, (d) four, (e) five, (f) six, (g) seven, (h) eight, (i) nine, (j) 10, (k) 11 and (l) 12 months or longer without a final decision having been made.

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 1 May 2019 to Question 246545 on Green Deal Scheme: Appeals, how many Intention Notices have been (a) issued and (b) agreed.

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 1 May 2019 to Question 246545 on Green Deal Scheme: Appeals, how many cases from Kilmarnock and Loudoun constituency that were referred to her have been with her office for (a) one, (b) two, (c) three, (d) four, (e) five, (f) six, (g) seven, (h) eight, (i) nine, (j) 10, (k) 11 and (l) 12 months or longer without a final decision having been made.

Kwasi Kwarteng: At 2nd October 2019 there are 129 outstanding appeals, relating to the company Home Energy & Lifestyle Management Ltd (HELMS), which have been referred to my rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State. The table below provides details of the age of the outstanding appeals.Months outstandingNumber of appeals1 or under12036435861372081297102113124Longer than 12 months50 Of these cases, 18 are from households in the Kilmarnock and Loudoun constituency. The table below provides details of the age of these outstanding appeals.Months outstandingNumber of appeals1 or under02030405063768090101111121Longer than 12 months6 Since the answer given by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State on 1 May 2019 to Question 246545, there have been four Sanction Notices issued (final decisions) in respect of complaints about mis-selling of the Green Deal by HELMS but no further Intention Notices. We expect to issue a number of Intention Notices in response to such appeals shortly.The final decisions in Sanction Notices may be subject to appeal to the First tier Tribunal.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Yazidis

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what support his Department is providing to (a) promote truth and reconciliation and (b) prevent the re-emergence of conflict between Yazidi people who have returned to their home areas in Iraq and non-Yazidi people living in those areas.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The UK is supporting the development of inclusive and representative reconciliation processes, involving Yazidis and other minorities, at both national and community levels in Iraq, through the Conflict, Stability and Security Fund. We have also contributed £23.5 million to the UN's Funding Facility for Stabilisation, which is helping to rebuild and develop inclusive local governance in areas liberated from Daesh, including those to which Yazidis are returning. To support the efforts to promote the truth of Daesh's crimes, in July we announced a further £1 million to the UN Investigative Team to Promote Accountability for Crimes Committed by Daesh which is investigating, among other incidents, the atrocities committed against the Yazidi community in Sinjar province.

Arms Trade: Saudi Arabia

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the effect on the UK's international reputation in relation to (a) the rule of law and (b) the integrity of the UK's arms control regime of the recent failure to abide by UK court rulings in relation to arms sales licences for Saudi Arabia.

Dr Andrew Murrison: As the Secretary of State for International Trade said during her statement to the House last week, the Government unreservedly apologises for the export licences that were issued in error and has commissioned a full independent investigation.This investigation will be led by an independent senior official – the Director General of Policy Group in the Department for Work and Pensions. We take our arms export control responsibilities very seriously and remain fully committed to complying with the undertaking provided to the Court of Appeal.

Yemen: Airports

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has held with his counterparts in (a) the Government of Saudi Arabia and (b) the Government of Yemen on (i) opening Sana’a International airport, (ii) implementing a UN Verification and Inspection Mechanism to facilitate traffic through the airport and (iii) facilitating direct international flights for aid workers, journalists, humanitarian aid and seriously ill people.

Dr Andrew Murrison: Improving humanitarian and commercial access in Yemen is one of the UK’s top priorities. The UK is actively raising humanitarian concerns with all parties, calling on them to comply with UN Security Council Resolution 2451 and facilitate safe, rapid, and unhindered access for humanitarian and commercial supplies, including through Aden Port and airports. The UK continues to encourage vital access for food, fuel, and medicine by providing £1.3 million to help the UN’s Verification and Inspection Mechanism to facilitate commercial imports into Hodeidah and Saleef ports by giving the Coalition confidence that weapons are not coming in on commercial ships.

Yemen: Peace Negotiations

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to open direct talks with the Houthi leadership in Sana’a to find a solution to the conflict in Yemen; and if he will make a statement.

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has held with his Saudi Arabian and Government of Yemen counterparts on holding direct talks with the Houthi leadership to broker a nationwide ceasefire; and if he will make a statement.

Dr Andrew Murrison: We consistently urge all parties, including the Houthis, to engage constructively with the UN Special Envoy. A nationwide ceasefire will only have an effect on the ground if it is underpinned by a political deal between the conflict parties. A political solution is the only way to bring long-term stability to Yemen and to address the worsening humanitarian crisis. The Yemeni parties must engage constructively and in good faith with the UN Special Envoy to overcome obstacles to progress and find a political settlement to end the conflict.

Yemen: Human Rights

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has held with his (a) Saudi Arabian, (b) Emirati and (c) Government of Yemen counterparts to facilitate access for the UN Humans Rights Council Panel of Eminent Experts to all regions of Yemen including Sana’a.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The UK supports the UN Group of Eminent Experts (GEE) and we welcome the renewal of its mandate. It is important to give the Group more time to fully examine the conflict and to ensure that their conclusions accurately reflect the conduct of all parties. The UK urges all parties to the conflict to cooperate with the GEE and to promote and protect human rights in Yemen. We are disappointed that the Group has not had the necessary access to the conflict zone, or been able to visit many of the countries that are engaged in the conflict. We encourage engagement with the Group as a means of ensuring that their conclusions are as well informed as possible, and that they reflect the views of all.​

Armed Conflict: Civilians

Stephen Crabb: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the implications for its policies of the recent report by the Royal United Services Institute and Save the Children, The UK Strategy on Protection of Civilians.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is leading a review of the Government's approach to Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict. This is an opportunity to take into account recent developments in the field of Protection of Civilians policy, including research and analysis by governments, international organisations, NGOs and academia. In this context, the recent report by the Royal United Services Institute and Save the Children will inform the review, which we expect to conclude by the end of 2019.

Armed Conflict: Civilians

Stephen Crabb: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to the review of the Protection of Civilians Strategy, if he will include civilian (a) casualty recording and (b) harm-tracking mechanisms in the Protection of Civilians Strategy.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: ​The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is leading a review of the Government's approach to Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict – an initiative that coincides with the 20th anniversary of the first Protection of Civilians Resolution to be agreed by the UN Security Council in 1999 (UNSCR 1265). The review involves contributions from both the Department for International Development and the Ministry of Defence. It is an opportunity for the Government to take into account recent developments in the field of Protection of Civilians policy, including work by states, international organisations, civil society and academia, and to consider a wide range of issues including inter alia, casualty recording and civilian-harm tracking mechanisms. The review will be completed by the end of 2019.

Yemen: Military Intervention

Stephen Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his (a) Saudi Arabian and (b) Emirati counterparts on the airstrike on a mosque in Al Sawad, Amran Governorate in Yemen on 23 September; and if he will make it his policy to support an independent investigation into that airstrike.

Stephen Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his (a) Saudi Arabian and (b) Emirati counterparts on the two airstrikes on civilian residences in Al Fakher, Al Dhale’e Governorate in Yemen on 24 September; and if he will make it his policy to support an independent investigation into those airstrikes.

Dr Andrew Murrison: We are deeply concerned about reports of civilian deaths after recent attacks in Amran and Al Dhale’e. Our thoughts are with those who have been affected. We are working with our partners to try and establish exactly what happened. We welcome the Coalition’s referral of both incidents to be investigated by the Joint Incident Assessment Team (JIAT). The UK continues to call on all parties to the conflict in Yemen to exercise restraint, comply fully with International Humanitarian Law and engage constructively with the peace process led by the UN Special Envoy, which is the only way to end the cycle of violence.​

Yemen: Human Rights

Stephen Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether it is the Government's policy to support the renewal and strengthening of the mandate of the UN Human Rights Council Group of Eminent Experts to investigate violations of human rights and humanitarian law in Yemen.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The UK voted in favour of the UN Human Rights Council resolution to renew the mandate of the UN Group of Eminent Experts. We welcome the renewal of its mandate, although it is disappointing that a single consensus resolution was not possible. It is important to give the Group more time to fully examine the conflict and to ensure that their conclusions accurately reflect the conduct of all parties.

Yemen: Military Intervention

Stephen Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his Iranian counterpart on Iran's involvement in the conflict in Yemen.

Dr Andrew Murrison: As the Foreign Secretary set out to the House on 25 September 2019, we must see an end to Iran’s interference in Yemen, which has stoked further conflict through support for the Houthi rebels and fuelled the greatest humanitarian crisis in the world today. Iran’s provision of weapons to the Houthis is contrary to the UN Security Council Resolution 2216 and the UN Security Council embargo on the export of weapons by Iran. We will continue to urge Iran to cease supplying weapons to the Houthis and to start playing a constructive instead of a destructive role in that conflict.

Eritrea: Religious Freedom

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of trends in the level of religious freedom and tolerance in Eritrea.

Andrew Stephenson: We are concerned by reports on the lack of religious freedom and tolerance in Eritrea. We raise human rights with the Government of Eritrea regularly, including religious freedoms. The former Minister for Africa raised our concerns with the Eritrean President's senior adviser in July, as did our Ambassador in Asmara with the same advisor in August. At the 41st session of the OHCHR Human Rights Council on 24 June to 12 July the UK reiterated calls for Eritrea to respect freedom of religion or belief.

Yemen: Military Intervention

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent estimate he has made of the number of Eritrean troops fighting in Yemen.

Dr Andrew Murrison: We monitor the conflict in Yemen closely. However, we are not aware of how many Eritrean troops may be in Yemen. ​

Armed Conflict: Civilians

Stephen Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his Department's policies of the RUSI and Save the Children report entitled The UK strategy on protection of civilians published on 18 September 2019.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is leading a review of the Government's approach to Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict. This is an opportunity to take into account recent developments in the field of Protection of Civilians policy, including research and analysis by governments, international organisations, NGOs and academia. In this context, the recent report by the Royal United Services Institute and Save the Children will inform the review, which we expect to conclude by the end of 2019.

Armed Conflict: Civilians

Stephen Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will ensure that the review of the UK’s Protection of Civilians Strategy includes (a) the vulnerabilities faced by children in conflict zones, (b) civilian casualty recording and (c) civilian harm-tracking mechanisms.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: ​The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is leading a review of the Government's approach to Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict. The review involves contributions from both the Department for International Development and the Ministry of Defence. It is an opportunity for the Government to take into account recent developments in the field of Protection of Civilians policy, including work by states, international organisations, civil society and academia, and to consider a wide range of issues, including children in conflict zones, casualty recording and civilian harm-tracking mechanisms. The review will be completed by the end of 2019.

Georgia: Peacekeeping Operations

Paul Farrelly: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the Government plans to continue its co-operation with the EU Monitoring Mission in Georgia after the UK leaves the EU.

Christopher Pincher: ​The United Kingdom is steadfast in our support for Georgia's territorial integrity and sovereignty. The EU Monitoring Mission in Georgia performs an important role to monitor the implementation of the 2008 Peace Agreements that followed the Georgia-Russia conflict of August 2008 - it is the only international peacekeeping mission tasked with this role. Looking ahead it is important that our future relationship with the EU should include a security relationship that will enable the United Kingdom and the EU to combat the shared threats faced by our citizens, domestically and abroad.

Armed Conflict: Children

Stephen Crabb: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the review of the UK Protection of civilians strategy will consider the distinct vulnerabilities faced by children in conflict zones.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is leading a review of the Government’s approach to Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict. The review involves contributions from both the Department for International Development and the Ministry of Defence. It is an opportunity for the Government to take into account recent developments in the field of Protection of Civilians policy, including work by states, international organisations, civil society and academia, and to consider a wide range of issues, including children in conflict zones. The review will be completed by the end of 2019.

Armed Conflict: Civilians

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the perpetrators of attacks on civilians in conflict zones are not supplied with arms, material or financial services by the UK.

Christopher Pincher: ​The Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria provide a thorough risk assessment framework for regulating the export of arms and dual-use equipment from the UK. The Government will not grant an export licence if to do so would be inconsistent with the Consolidated Criteria, including if there is a clear risk that the equipment might be used for internal repression, or in the commission of serious violations of International Humanitarian Law.

Zimbabwe: Economic Situation

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps the British consulate in Zimbabwe is taking to compile accurate inflation data on the price of goods in that country.

Dominic Raab: The Zimbabwean economy faces severe challenges and the economic situation remains fragile. Our Embassy in Harare monitors developments closely, encouraging the government of Zimbabwe to implement the Staff Monitored Programme announced by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on 31 May and protect the poorest.Following the re-introduction of the Zimbabwe dollar the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency suspended producing annual inflation figures until February 2020. However, they produce official monthly inflation data which can be used to estimate annual inflation. External partners, such as the IMF, also produce independent estimates of inflation.

Armed Conflict: Civilians

Mr David Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications for the Government's policies of the report entitled, The UK strategy on protection of civilians, published by RUSI and Save the Children in September 2019.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: ​The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is leading a review of the Government's approach to Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict. This is an opportunity to take into account recent developments in the field of Protection of Civilians policy, including research and analysis by governments, international organisations, NGOs and academia. In this context, the recent report by the Royal United Services Institute and Save the Children will inform the review, which we expect to conclude by the end of 2019.

Bahrain: Embassies

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his Bahraini counterpart on reports of violence at the Bahraini Embassy in the UK on 26 July 2019.

Dr Andrew Murrison: Following the illegal entry of an individual onto the premises of the Bahrain Embassy on 26 July, I spoke to Dr Sheikh Abduallah, Bahraini Undersecretary for International Affairs on 27 July, to reiterate that the British Government takes the safety and security of foreign diplomats and the status of Embassies and High Commissions in the UK extremely seriously.​

Egypt: Human Rights

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his Egyptian counterpart on strengthening protections for the human rights of non-Muslims in that country.

Dr Andrew Murrison: We regularly raise with the Egyptian authorities the human rights of religious minorities, and make the case for them to be accorded the necessary protections under Egyptian law. President Sisi has called for peaceful co-existence between religious communities in Egypt, has licensed over one thousand churches under the Church Building Law, and has opened the largest cathedral in the Middle East and North Africa. During my visit to Cairo on 15 September, I met Pope Tawadros II, whose Coptic Orthodox Church plays such an important part in Egyptian society. The UK has always been clear that the rights of minorities, wherever they exist, should be protected in line with international standards. I look forward to discussing these issues with the Hon. Member for Gillingham and Rainham, whom the Prime Minister has appointed as his new Envoy for Freedom of Religion and Belief.

United Arab Emirates: Religious Freedom

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his Emirati counterpart on supporting (a) religious freedoms and (b) right to enjoy a place of worship in that country.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The UK welcomes the United Arab Emirates commitment to promoting religious tolerance demonstrated through the UAE 2019 Year of Tolerance. Freedom of Religion or Belief is a universal human right, which intersects with many other human rights.

British Nationals Abroad: Diplomatic Service

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what estimate his Department has made of the number of instances of UK citizens using a non-UK EU consulate in 2018.

Andrew Stephenson: We estimate the number of requests to EU consular services to be very low, as British Nationals can access UK consular assistance remotely.

Yemen: Armed Conflict

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has made to his Sudanese counterpart on the removal of their troops from Yemen.

Andrew Stephenson: ​Sudan is a member of the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen. UK policy is that the use of any national force in another country must be authorised under international law. British Embassy Khartoum routinely engages with the recently appointed civilian government in Sudan on key priority areas and how we can support them, including on human rights and rule of law.

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe

Mr Ranil Jayawardena: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to secure the release of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe.

Dr Andrew Murrison: ​The British Government remains extremely concerned about Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe's welfare. We repeatedly call for her release at the highest levels and our Embassy in Tehran continues to request consular access. The Prime Minister raised his concerns about dual national detentions with President Rouhani on 24 September. The Foreign Secretary raised his concerns with Iranian Foreign Minister Zarif on 17 September and met Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe's husband on 2 September to reinforce the UK's support in bringing his wife home. We are in regular contact with Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe's family and we urge Iran to release Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe so they can be reunited.

Northern Ireland Office

Public Expenditure: Northern Ireland

Christian Matheson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what proportion of the confidence and supply agreement between the Conservative Party and Democratic Unionist Party is allocated to each constituency.

Christian Matheson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, when he plans to answer Question 287929, on Public Expenditure: Northern Ireland, tabled on 6 September 2019 by the hon. Member for the City of Chester.

Julian Smith: Alongside the Confidence and Supply Agreement, the UK Government committed to providing £1 billion of additional funding to the Northern Ireland Departments, which is released to the Northern Ireland Grant through the usual estimates process. The Government has so far allocated £763 million to the Northern Ireland Block Grant, including £333m for the current financial year, through Parliament’s approval in the normal estimates process. This funding is to the benefit of all communities across the whole of Northern Ireland and is not broken down into individual constituencies.

Department of Health and Social Care

Health Services: British Nationals Abroad

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the longest time is that an applicant has had to wait for the renewal of an S1 form in 2019.

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many outstanding claims for healthcare cover under the S1 scheme there were on 25 September 2019.

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of UK citizens that have a right to healthcare cover in the EU (a) have applied for that cover and (b) are receiving that cover.

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Government is taking to help ensure that UK nationals living in EU states who have applied for but not yet been issued with an S1 certificate by HMRC can access (a) routine and (b) emergency healthcare.

Edward Argar: I laid a Written Ministerial Statement HCWS1832 on 26 September 2019, setting out the transitional healthcare arrangements across the European Union that the Department has put in place if we are unable to secure a deal. The contingency arrangements will cover all those living in an EU or European Free Trade Area member state who are eligible for a healthcare S1 form at the time the United Kingdom leaves the EU even if they have not yet obtained that form at the time the UK leaves the EU.The NHS Business Services Authority only issues healthcare S1s. It does not issue S1 forms for posted workers which are issued by HM Revenue and Customs. Pensioners do not need to apply to renew their form. When the NHS Business Services Authority record a registered S1, there is no ability to capture the date the S1 was received, only the date it was processed.At the end of calendar year 2018, the UK had outstanding reciprocal healthcare claims valued at £307 million, including for the S1 scheme.The NHS Business Services Authority does not have data regarding the number of UK citizens that have a right to healthcare cover in the EU. The total number of registered UK S1s is 152,000 (excluding Ireland). For the period 1 April 2018 to 31 March 2019, there were a total of 35,535 S1 applications, of which 10,908 have been registered on NHS Business Services Authority systems.

Psychiatry: Children and Young People

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the availability of child and adolescent psychoanalytic psychotherapists in (a) England, (b) the West Midlands and (c) Birmingham.

Ms Nadine Dorries: The Department does not hold data on the number of child and adolescent psychoanalytic psychotherapists. NHS Digital provides information on psychotherapists and the number of child and adolescent psychiatrists employed in National Health Service trusts and clinical commissioning groups in England, but it does not separately identify specialist psychotherapists.Through the Long Term Plan, the NHS has committed to ensuring that by 2023/24 at least an additional 345,000 children and young people aged 0-25 will be able to access support via NHS-funded mental health services and school or college-based mental health support teams. These teams are one of the key proposals set out in our Green Paper on children and young people’s mental health, which aims to improve the provision of children and young people’s mental health support. Health Education England’s 2019/20 Annual Mandate includes provision of training to help achieve these ambitions.

Social Services

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when the Government plans to publish its Green Paper on improving social care.

Caroline Dinenage: As the Prime Minister said on the steps of Downing Street, the Government will set out its plans to fix the crisis in social care once and for all, to give every older person the dignity and security that they deserve.We will set out our proposals in due course.

York Hospital: Health Professions

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many full-time equivalent (a) medical consultants, (b) other doctors, (c) nurses and midwives and (d) other health professionals were employed at York Hospital in (a) 2010 and (b) the most recent date for which figures are available.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many full-time equivalent (a) medical consultants, (b) other medical staff, (c) nurses, (d) other professional staff, (e) administrative and clerical staff and (f) auxiliary staff were employed by York NHS Trust in each year since 2010.

Edward Argar: NHS Digital publishes Hospital and Community Health Services (HCHS) workforce statistics for England. These include staff working in hospital trusts and clinical commissioning groups (CCGs), but not staff working in primary care, local authorities or other providers. These statistics are available for National Health Service trusts, CCGs and Health Education England (HEE) regions only and not by individual hospital sites. The following table shows the number of consultants, doctors, nurses and health visitors, other professionally qualified staff, support staff and infrastructure staff in York Teaching Hospital NHS Trust as at September each specified year and June 2019, the latest available data, full time equivalent is attached.York Teaching Hospital NHS Trust data cannot be accurately compared to 2010 due to a merger with Scarborough and North East Yorkshire Healthcare NHS Trust in 2012.The NHS Digital data that the Department holds provides information by NHS trusts, CCGs and HEE regions. The Department does not hold information for individual hospitals such as York Hospital. NHS trusts and CCGs often span geographical boundaries with staff potentially working in multiple geographical regions and hospitals. 



York Teaching Hospital NHS Trust
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York Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust: Hospital Beds

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many in-patient discharges from beds in York Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust were delayed because of the unavailability of step-down care beds or community care services in 2014 -15 and each subsequent year; how many days on average those patients' discharges were delayed; and what the cost was to the Trust of delayed discharges in each of those years.

Edward Argar: This information is not collected in the format requested. Information on the number of days patients were delayed, rather than number of patients, is published by NHS England each month at provider level, including where the reason for the delay is a wait for further non-acute NHS care (including intermediate care, rehabilitation services etc). Information is not collected centrally specifically on ‘step-down’ care.The information requested on costs is not held centrally.

Department of Health and Social Care: Brexit

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions officials in his Department have had with representatives from Liverpool City Council on preparations for the UK leaving the EU without a withdrawal agreement.

Edward Argar: The Department is working with its partners across Government, arm’s length bodies, local authorities, industry and the wider health and care system to ensure that all relevant parties are prepared for exiting the European Union. The quality and safety of patient care is paramount in our preparedness plans. In August 2019, the Department published up-to-date guidance on GOV.UK on what local authorities can do to prepare for leaving the EU. This covers a range of issues including workforce, business continuity planning, data sharing, and the continuity of supply of medicines, medical devices and clinical consumables, and of non-clinical goods and services, it also provides key contact information and signposts where local authorities and providers can go for further support. We continue to work closely with the health and social care sector to ensure that this guidance is accurate, practical and up-to-date.

Influenza: Vaccination

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that every person whose health makes them more vulnerable to flu is able to receive the winter flu vaccine without delay.

Jo Churchill: The flu vaccination is offered to people who are at risk of the serious complications of flu. This includes people over 65, pregnant women, and those in clinical risk groups. In addition, the vaccine is offered to carers, and frontline health and social care workers, who work with vulnerable groups.A key objective of the children’s programme is to reduce transmission of flu to the general population and those at risk, in addition to providing individual protection. In 2019/20, all primary school aged children will be offered the vaccine for the first time in England. Those eligible for flu vaccination can get the vaccine from their general practitioner, and since 2015/16 adult groups can also be vaccinated at their local community pharmacy, thus widening patient access.

Influenza: Vaccination

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of preparations for the roll-out of the aTIV flu vaccine.

Jo Churchill: NHS England has conducted its annual readiness assessment prior to the flu season. The Department has also had discussions with the supplier of the adjuvanted trivalent influenza vaccine (aTIV), which is one of the vaccines available for people aged 65 years and older.The aTIV is locally procured by general practitioners (GP) and pharmacists who are responsible for ordering supplies of the vaccine they require for their population group. Deliveries of the aTIV commenced early September, and the supplier is on track to meet all orders by GP and pharmacists during October as planned.

Insulin: Imports

John Howell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what measures are in place to support the import of insulin from Denmark (Nova Nordisk) and Germany (Sanofi) in the event of the UK leaving the EU (a) with and (b) without a deal.

Edward Argar: In the event that the UK leaves the EU with a negotiated deal, the Department’s assessment is that during the Implementation Period agreed with the EU, market access to medicines and medical devices won’t change for industry or the NHS.We are working closely with partners across the health and care system and industry, to take all appropriate steps to prepare for leaving the European Union. Our robust plans and multi layered approach should help ensure the supply of medicines and medical products, including insulin, remains uninterrupted if we leave without a deal.On 26 June, we wrote to suppliers of medicines to the United Kingdom from or via the EU or European Economic Area setting out our continuing multi-layered approach to support continuity of supply of medicines and medical products.For commercial reasons, the Government will not be releasing details of contingency plans for individual medicines. We continue to work with individual suppliers directly to assure ourselves of their contingency plans. However, as an example of the preparations being taken by industry, insulin manufacturer Novo Nordisk recently publicly stated that they have 18 weeks' worth of supplies in the UK and had secured alternative ferry capacity to renew supplies.Further details can be found at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/news/medicines-and-medical-products-supply-government-updates-no-deal-brexit-plans

Infectious Diseases: Vaccination

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that people who for medical reasons cannot be vaccinated against certain infectious diseases remain protected in society and able to lead a normal life.

Jo Churchill: Those who cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons receive protection from many infectious diseases through ‘herd immunity’, which occurs as a result of high vaccination uptake rates within the wider population.It is therefore critical that vaccination rates for all UK programmes remain as high as possible to protect those who cannot be vaccinated, and we are working to increase uptake across all of our vaccination programmes. In order to deliver that, the Department is reviewing all potential options – including the mandation of certain vaccines. This is why we are looking at making some vaccination programmes mandatory.

Healthy Start Scheme

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many individual Healthy Start vouchers have been used in each of the last 10 years for which data are available.

Jo Churchill: A total of around 256 million Healthy Start vouchers have been redeemed within the last 10 complete financial years. A full breakdown of the redemption within each year can be found in the following table. Redeemed Healthy Start VouchersFinancial YearTotal2009/1031,632,0992010/1131,825,2622011/1231,152,5632012/1331,322,4412013/1429,191,0042014/1526,105,8932015/1622,691,0742016/1719,927,9012017/1817,462,7072018/1914,585,372Grand Total255,896,316Source: Healthy Start Reimbursement Unit

Cancer: Screening

Andrew Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that the full NHS People Plan will tackle shortages in the imaging and diagnostic workforce in order to achieve the ambition in the NHS Long Term Plan to increase cancer screening uptake.

Jo Churchill: Following publication of the interim People Plan on 3 June 2019, work is now underway to develop a full five-year NHS People Plan, which will support delivery of the NHS Long Term Plan. The full People Plan will build on the ambitions in the interim Plan, focusing on education and training, and new routes into the National Health Service, as well as workforce planning and redesign, and workforce productivity (releasing time for care).Since publication of the Interim Plan, Health Education England and NHS Improvement and NHS England have been working together to ensure delivery of the immediate actions and have been working with stakeholders including the People Plan advisory group and trade unions, think tanks, academia, and professional bodies to develop the full People Plan. Work is also underway with national clinical programmes, including cancer and diagnostics, to understand their workforce priorities for delivering the Long Term Plan commitments, including addressing key workforce shortages.Also, as part of the NHS Long Term Plan, NHS England asked Sir Mike Richards to lead a review to improve the delivery of the screening programmes, increase uptake, learn the lessons from the recent issues around breast and cervical screening, and modernise and expand diagnostic capacity. Workforce requirements to support delivery of our national screening programmes are included in scope of Professor Sir Mike Richards review and we expect publication of the report shortly. The review, will make recommendations to the Secretary of State and Board of NHS England about the future commissioning and delivery of screening programmes in England.

Mental Health Services: Private Sector

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to (a) improve standards and (b) ensure patient safety in privately-run mental health units.

Ms Nadine Dorries: Everybody has the right to receive safe, high-quality care. If care has fallen short of this, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) can use its powers to take action against those responsible.The CQC has a key responsibility in the overall assurance of safety and quality of health and adult social care services in England and has commissioned two independent reviews to look at what it could have done differently or better in terms of its regulation and inspection of Whorlton Hall and other services of this kind.

Dementia: Social Services

Paul Farrelly: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that all adult social care workers caring for dementia patients are trained to level Tier 2 of the Dementia Training Standards Framework.

Caroline Dinenage: The national dementia strategy for England, the Challenge on Dementia 2020, set the expectation that all relevant health and care staff would have the appropriate dementia training, with the requisite training needs at different “tiers” set out in the ‘Dementia Training Standards Framework’.Good progress has been made to date in training the social care workforce. It is estimated that around half of social care workers considered to need tier 2 dementia training have undertaken training to a level equivalent to it. The Department is currently exploring value for money options for further increasing take up of tier 2 training to everyone who needs it.

Ipswich Hospital: Staff

Dr Dan Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many clinical staff were employed by Ipswich Hospital in each year since 2010.

Edward Argar: The Department does not hold the data in the format requested.NHS Digital does not record staff data for individual hospitals.

Health Services: Suffolk

Dr Dan Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the annual commissioning budget for East Suffolk and Ipswich CCG was in each year since 2012.

Edward Argar: Annual allocations for clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) can be found on the NHS England website at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/allocations/CCGs were created in 2013, therefore CGG allocation figures date back to 2013/14. -AllocationAllocationAllocationAllocationAllocationAllocationAllocation(£'000)2013/142014/152015/162016/172017/182018/192019/20NHS Ipswich and East Suffolk CCG392,348403,530433,407458,011468,076483,608510,117 Source:https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/ccg-allocations.pdfhttps://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/ccg-allocation-big-table-v2.pdfhttps://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/ccg-allocations-2019-20-to-2023-24-all-funding-streams-spreadsheet/

Accident and Emergency Departments: Standards

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of patients that waited longer than four hours in A&E in (a) 2009-10 and (b) 2018-19.

Edward Argar: In 2009-10 there were 20,511,908 attendances of which 353,617 patients waited longer than four hours in accident and emergency.In 2018-19 there were 24,826,981 attendances of which 2,976,112 people waited more than four hours but in the face of rising demand, over 4,315,000 more patients were seen within four hours compared to 2009-10.

Mental Health Services: Nurses

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of trends in the level of the NHS mental health nursing workforce in each year since 2010.

Ms Nadine Dorries: Although overall trends since 2010 show a decline in numbers of mental health nurses, recent years have seen numbers begin to improve. As of June 2019, there are now 36,101 mental health nurses – 776 more than in June 2017. The Government has carried out work to increase the nursing workforce, such as expanding the number of nurse training places and introducing nurse degree apprentices and nursing associate apprentices. The National Health Service has also put in place national programmes focused on improving staff retention, return to practice, overseas recruitment and improving sickness absence. The interim NHS People Plan recognises that there is a shortage of nurses, especially mental health nurses, and sets out immediate actions to reduce vacancies and secure the nursing staff we need for the future. This includes addressing pensions tax concerns and bolstering the workforce through greater international recruitment. Furthermore, the Department has made available placement funding for an additional 5,000 more nurses.

General Practitioners: Recruitment

Gareth Snell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many GPs were recruited to the NHS under the GP International recruitment scheme in (a) 2018 and (b) 2019; and what the cost to the public purse has been of that scheme.

Jo Churchill: The International GP Recruitment (IGPR) Programme was announced in August 2017 and recruitment began from April 2018. Prior to this, four pilot schemes were established between May 2016 and November 2017. The IGPR programme has now recruited over 150 doctors from overseas through the extended national programme and the pilots. These are part of the pipeline of over 350 doctors who are currently working through the Induction and Refresher scheme aimed at supporting both international general practitioners joining general practice in England and domestically trained doctors wishing to return to practice.

Healthy Start Scheme: Plant Milks

Paul Farrelly: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of extending the Healthy Starts Voucher Scheme to include the purchase of fortified plant milks.

Jo Churchill: The Department has no current plans to make changes to the milk which can be purchased with Healthy Start vouchers, but we are prepared to consider the merits of allowing the purchase of certain plant-based drinks.

Opiates: Misuse

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the (a) number of deaths related to opioid usage and (b) rates of opioid addiction.

Jo Churchill: The Office for National Statistics reported that there were 2,208 drug poisonings deaths in England and Wales registered in 2018 that had an opiate mentioned on the death certificate. The data can be viewed at the following link:https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/bulletins/deathsrelatedtodrugpoisoninginenglandandwales/2018registrations Information about the prevalence of opiate (and crack cocaine) use in England is produced by Liverpool John Moores University. The latest estimated number of people who use illicit opiates (mainly heroin) aged 15-64 in England in 2016-17 was 261,294. The report can be viewed at the following link: https://phi.ljmu.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Estimates-of-the-Prevalence-of-Opiate-Use-and-or-Crack-Cocaine-Use-2016-17-Sweep-13-report.pdf

Drugs: Rehabilitation

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to improve the provision of treatment for (a) opioid and (b) other prescription drug addiction.

Jo Churchill: Opioids and other prescription drugs that can be dependency forming, and the Government is taking action to protect people from addiction and inappropriate prescribing. On 10 September, Public Health England published an evidence review of dependence and withdrawal associated with some prescribed medicines and the Government is currently working with stakeholders to consider the recommendations in the review.

Analgesics: Regulation

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of regulations on the (a) sale, (b) marketing and (c) proscribing of opioids and other extra strong pain relief medication.

Ms Nadine Dorries: The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has established an Opioid Expert Working Group under the auspices of the Commission on Human Medicines to examine current regulatory measures in place and whether further actions need to be taken.This review is ongoing and has already recommended that labels of all opioid medicines should have prominent warnings on addiction on their packaging and identified that information for patients and healthcare professionals must be consistent and clear. The Expert Working Group is assessing access to opioid medicines available over the counter as well as by prescription.

Drugs: Regulation

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment has his Department made of the effectiveness of regulations on (a) donations from and (b) lobbying by pharmaceutical companies.

Ms Nadine Dorries: The offer of gifts and benefits to healthcare professionals are strictly regulated under regulation 300 of the Human Medicines Regulations 2012. This provides that, where medicines are being promoted to healthcare professionals who prescribe or supply medicines, no gift, pecuniary advantage or benefit may be offered or supplied unless it is inexpensive and relevant to the practice of medicine or pharmacy. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency or the industry self-regulatory body would investigate any complaint about inappropriate payments made by pharmaceutical companies under this regulation.

NHS: Capital Investment

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the oral contribution of the Minister of State for Health of 30 September 2019, on the Health Infrastructure Plan, what increase in capital funding will be delivered by the Health Infrastructure Plan; what the subsequent additional Barnett Consequential Funding to Scotland for that plan will be; and if he will provide the spend profile on a year by year projection for the additional funding for that plan to Scotland.

Edward Argar: The capital funding for England announced with the launch of the Health Infrastructure Plan (HIP) is £2.8 billion, with £2.7 billion for six new hospital projects that are getting the full go ahead now, and £100 million in seed funding to a further 21 schemes (34 hospitals) to develop their plans.This announcement will mean the devolved administrations will receive indicative Barnett consequentials over eight years of around £270 million for the Scottish Government, £165 million for the Welsh Government, and £90 million for the Northern Ireland administration. Consequentials will be confirmed when Departmental budgets are set, and the Barnett formula will apply in the normal way.

Hospitals: Construction

Sir Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the (a) level of use and (b) ward occupation rate of NHS hospitals in advance of new NHS hospitals being built; and if he will make a statement.

Edward Argar: The NHS Long Term Plan sets out a number of reforms to the National Health Service’s capital regime to ensure capital funding is prioritised and allocated efficiently, supports the transformation of services and increased productivity, and allows for effective planning and control.As part of their planning process, sustainability and transformation partnerships and integrated care systems would need to assess changing needs, additional activity and the new services that we envisage for the NHS in their future plans. The number of beds required in new NHS hospitals would be part of their service demand modelling and would need to be set out in their business case.

WiFi: Health Hazards

Sir Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the level of risk to the health of children posed by wi-fi systems in the home; and if he will make a statement.

Jo Churchill: Public Health England (PHE) advises that exposure to radio waves, including those from Wi-Fi equipment in the home, should comply with the guidelines on limiting exposures from the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP). These guidelines underpin health protection policies at United Kingdom and European levels. These guidelines can be viewed at the following link:https://www.icnirp.org/cms/upload/publications/ICNIRPLFgdl.pdfA comprehensive evidence review prepared by the independent Advisory Group on Non-Ionising Radiation (AGNIR) was published in 2012. This review concluded that, although a substantial amount of research has been conducted in this area, there is no convincing evidence that electromagnetic field exposures below guideline levels cause health effects in either adults or children. The AGNIR report is available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/radiofrequency-electromagnetic-fields-health-effectsPHE continues to monitor the health-related evidence and reviews emerging around the world, and is committed to updating its advice as required.

Department for International Development

Pakistan: Earthquakes

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assistance the Government is offering to the Government of Pakistan following the aftermath of the recent earthquake in Azad Kashmir.

Zac Goldsmith: DFID has been liaising closely with the Government of Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) since the earthquake struck on 24 September 2019. Key humanitarian partners, including UN agencies, met with the NDMA to discuss the response to the earthquake on Friday 27 September. The NDMA confirmed that the Government of Pakistan will not launch any formal appeal or request for National or International Assistance, but donors and agencies can provide assistance on a voluntary basis. DFID stands ready to respond and provide funding and the National Disaster Consortium partners have pre-positioned supplies which can be deployed at short notice.

Developing Countries: Health Services

Jack Lopresti: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what plans he has to require countries in receipt of Official Development Assistance for the health sector to commit five per cent of their GDP to spending on that sector.

Dr Andrew Murrison: If we are to meet the ambition of Sustainable Development Goal 3 and ensure no-one is left behind, countries need to invest more public resources in health. The UK strongly supports the commitments in the United Nations Political Declaration on Universal Health Coverage. This calls on countries to increase public spending, with an emphasis on primary health care, noting World Health Organisation recommendations of an additional 1% of GDP or more. We provide technical assistance to countries as part of our health system strengthening programmes through our country offices and through funding to the World Health Organisation. The UK will step up our efforts to end preventable deaths of mothers, new-born babies and children in the developing world by 2030. This will include boosting our support for developing countries to make progress towards universal health coverage, focusing on ensuring sexual and reproductive health and rights and helping the most vulnerable women such as survivors of female genital mutilation, and working with our global partners to deliver Gavi’s new strategy that will vaccinate a further 300 million children in the world’s poorest countries by 2025.

Developing Countries

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential effect on developing countries of the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

Andrew Stephenson: The UK’s exit from the European Union will not stop us driving forward our core mission of reducing poverty around the world. The vast majority of DFID’s work is not done via the EU. We remain committed to spending 0.7% of our national income on Official Development Assistance and to achieving the UN’s Global Goals and ending extreme poverty by 2030.After Exit DFID will continue to deliver on our commitments to our developing country partners. Our aid budget will be spent to help the poorest people in the world and in the best interests of UK taxpayers.

Department for International Development: Secondment

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how many staff in his Department are deployed to other Departments and working on the UK leaving the EU.

Zac Goldsmith: As at 3rd October, the Department for International Development has deployed 118 employees on short term loan to other government departments to support EU exit priorities.

Department for International Development: Secondment

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, to which Departments staff in his Department are seconded and transferred as a result of preparations for the UK leaving the EU.

Andrew Stephenson: Staff have been deployed to the following departments:- Department for Exiting the European Union- Department for International Trade- Cabinet Office- Border’s Delivery Group (Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs)- Border’s Supply Chain Impact Group (HMRC)

Developing Countries: Health Services

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what plans he has to establish a requirement for countries in receipt of Overseas Development Assistance for health to make measurable progress towards committing five per cent of GDP to health spending.

Dr Andrew Murrison: If we are to meet the ambition of Sustainable Development Goal 3 and ensure no-one is left behind, countries need to invest more public resources in health. The UK strongly supports the commitments in the United Nations Political Declaration on Universal Health Coverage. This calls on countries to increase public spending, with an emphasis on primary health care, noting World Health Organisation recommendations of an additional 1% of GDP or more. We provide technical assistance to countries as part of our health system strengthening programmes through our country offices and through funding to the World Health Organisation. The UK will step up our efforts to end preventable deaths of mothers, new-born babies and children in the developing world by 2030. This will include boosting our support for developing countries to make progress towards universal health coverage, focusing on ensuring sexual and reproductive health and rights and helping the most vulnerable women such as survivors of female genital mutilation, and working with our global partners to deliver Gavi’s new strategy that will vaccinate a further 300 million children in the world’s poorest countries by 2025.

Yemen: Sanitation

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what estimate he has made of the operability of urban water and sanitation plants by each governorate in Yemen.

Dr Andrew Murrison: According to the UN’s 2019 Humanitarian Needs Overview, only 22 per cent of rural and 46 per cent of urban populations are connected to partially functioning public water networks, and trucked water is mostly unregulated and expensive. Where functioning public water and sanitation systems exist, coverage remains poor, with a majority of governorates and districts reportedly showing coverage below 60% of the populations they serve. The international humanitarian response, including funding from the UK, ensures that sustained water delivery reaches an average of approximately 3.5 million people per month whilst sustained sanitation delivery reaches an average of approximately 1.7 million people per month.

Yemen: Public Sector

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what estimate he has made of the proportion of Yemeni Government workers by each Governorate in receipt of salary payments; and what the regularity of those payments is.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The UK does not collect comprehensive information on the number of Government of Yemen workers receiving salary payments. However, we welcome reports of the Government of Yemen making recent progress towards paying public-sector salaries across more of the country, including in Hodeidah governorate and other Houthi-controlled areas. The UK continues to encourage the Government of Yemen to resume the full and regular payment of public-sector salaries in all areas of the country.

Yemen: International Assistance

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what estimate he has made of the (a) monetary value and (b) tonnage of commercial imports of (i) food, (ii) fuel, (iii) medical supplies and (iv) essential materials awaiting transshipment using letters of credit issued by the Government of Yemen.

Dr Andrew Murrison: As of 29 September, according to data from the UN Verification Inspection Mechanism (UNVIM), ten vessels carrying cargos of fuel were awaiting to berth at Hodeidah port. These vessels were carrying a total estimated volume of over 212,000 Metric Tonnes of fuel – the equivalent of approximately a month’s average fuel imports through Hodeidah port. We cannot estimate the value of this fuel as the overall value depends on the individual commercial arrangements made in each case. As of 29 September, no issues were reported by UNVIM on vessels carrying food, medical supplies and other cargo.

Pakistan: Earthquakes

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what support he is offering to provide for relief and reconstruction for people affected by the 5.8 magnitude earthquake near the town of Jhelum in Kashmir.

Zac Goldsmith: DFID has been liaising closely with the Government of Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) since the earthquake struck on 24 September 2019. Key humanitarian partners, including UN agencies, met with the NDMA to discuss the response to the earthquake on Friday 27 September. The NDMA confirmed that the Government of Pakistan will not launch any formal appeal or request for National or International Assistance, but donors and agencies can provide assistance on a voluntary basis. DFID stands ready to respond and provide funding and the National Disaster Consortium partners have pre-positioned supplies which can be deployed at short notice.

Developing Countries: Sustainable Development

Gillian Keegan: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps his Department is taking to ensure all UK aid projects are environmentally sustainable.

Zac Goldsmith: Good development takes account of climate change and environmental sustainability, and DFID is increasingly putting climate and environment at the heart of the UK aid agenda in line with the Sustainable Development Goals. The department’s rules for designing and implementing programmes charge staff with considering sustainability and resilience, including climate change and environmental shocks. As well as informing the appraisal of new projects, staff are expected to manage environmental risks throughout implementation, in line with DFID’s environmental and social safeguards. DFID has a cadre of specialist climate and environment advisers who support teams to meet these requirements. In July this year, the Government committed in the Green Finance Strategy to align our Official Development Assistance with the Paris Agreement, that is to support low-carbon and climate resilient development. The Prime Minister also recently announced that the UK would be doubling the quantity of International Climate Finance we provide to support developing countries from 2021. Since 2011, UK aid has provided 26 million people with improved access to clean energy, and helped 57 million people to cope with the effects of climate change. It has also reduced greenhouse gas emissions internationally by 16 million tonnes – the equivalent to taking three million cars off the road for a year.

Yemen: Military Intervention

Stephen Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment his Department has made of the humanitarian effect of the recent escalation of military activity in Al-Daleh province, Yemen.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The UN estimates that 10,000 households have been displaced in Al Dhale this year, with the emergency response reportedly remaining limited and slow across the governorate due to severe access constraints. The UK is actively raising humanitarian concerns with all parties, calling on them to comply with UN Security Council Resolution 2451 by facilitating safe, rapid, and unhindered humanitarian and commercial access.

Sustainable Development: Publicity

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the Government's report on Investing in a better world: results of UK survey on financing the SDGs, what steps he is taking to increase public awareness of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Andrew Stephenson: The UK is committed to delivering and promoting the Sustainable Development Goals at home and abroad. The UK’s Voluntary National Review of progress towards the Goals, published in July, was an important step to showcase the UK’s work and raise public awareness.The Government undertook awareness raising activities including a nationwide youth art competition and press and social media support for the #MyGlobalGoal campaign which encouraged the public to think about their New Year’s resolutions in relation to the Goals.We include the Goals in our key public engagement work. Every charity donation we double through the UK Aid Match scheme goes towards the delivery of a Goal. And our Connecting Classrooms programme, run with the British Council, includes free resources for schools, allowing children across the UK to learn about the Goals.During the recent UN General Assembly, the Government highlighted its commitment to girls’ education, raising awareness of Goal 4 on Quality Education. DFID also used this important global moment to publicise the Government’s support for the Goals on social media.The Government will continue to seek further opportunities to raise public awareness of the Goals.

Developing Countries: Education

Stephen Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps his Department is taking to reverse the declining trend in Official Development Assistance spending on education.

Andrew Stephenson: Between 2009 and 2018 DFID’s spend on education doubled from almost £500 million to nearly £1 billion. The Prime Minister has publicly stated that education, particularly girls’ education, is a priority for the UK. He announced £90 million for education in emergencies and protracted crisis including £85 million to Education Cannot Wait at the G7 Summit, and last week the UK announced a £515 million package of support for education, including a £300 million pledge for the new International Finance Facility for Education. In total, these announcements will support 6.3 million girls. Alongside our commitment to the Global Partnership for Education, the UK is now the leading bilateral donor to all three major multilateral education funds and continues to be one of the leading bilateral donors to basic education. At the UN General Assembly last week, the UK has been calling for others to step up and follow our lead.

Developing Countries: Food

Stephen Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps his Department is taking to help meet Sustainable Development Goal 2 on zero hunger.

Andrew Stephenson: The UK is playing its part in ending hunger and undernutrition through a substantial portfolio of agricultural and other economic development programmes, social safety nets, and humanitarian response interventions; through its bilateral programmes as well as support to multilateral institutions. Following the UK-hosted Nutrition for Growth Summit in 2013, DFID has significantly scaled up its work to prevent and treat malnutrition. Since 2015, we have reached 60 million young children, adolescent girls and women with nutrition services, particularly in the most fragile and conflict-affected regions of the world.

Developing Countries: Food

Stephen Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent discussions he has had with his German counterpart on an international alliance for achieving Sustainable Development Goal 2 on hunger.

Andrew Stephenson: We are discussing opportunities for achieving more effective global interventions to reverse the negative trend on hunger and make progress on Sustainable Development Goal 2 (SDG2) in the decade to 2030. This includes the German-initiated proposal for an SDG2 event in 2020, and the Government of Japan’s preparations for the 2020 Nutrition for Growth Summit. In August, senior DFID officials met with senior counterparts in the German Federal Ministry for Economic Development and Cooperation (BMZ) to consider options for creating alliances on SDG2 alliances, in particular in fragile and conflict-affected geographies and in climate-vulnerable areas.

Nigeria: Non-governmental Organisations

Stephen Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what representations the Government has made to the Government of Nigeria on the closure of humanitarian international NGOs in North-East Nigeria.

Andrew Stephenson: We are very concerned that the Nigerian Military has closed the offices of Action Against Hunger and Mercy Corps in North East Nigeria. We call on all parties to respect their obligations under International Humanitarian Law, including allowing and facilitating the delivery of life-saving assistance to those in need. We have urged the Government of Nigeria to follow due process with the relevant judicial authorities to allow an impartial hearing in accordance with Nigerian Law and to enable the uninterrupted delivery of humanitarian assistance.

Nigeria: Non-governmental Organisations

Stephen Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what representations the Government has made to the Nigerian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom on the closure of humanitarian international NGOs in that country.

Andrew Stephenson: We are very concerned that the Nigerian Military has closed the offices of Action Against Hunger and Mercy Corps in North East Nigeria. We have not raised the issue directly with the Nigerian High Commissioner in London instead focusing our engagement directly with the Federal government in Nigeria. We have urged the Government of Nigeria in Abuja to follow due process with the relevant judicial authorities to allow an impartial hearing in accordance with Nigerian Law and to enable the uninterrupted delivery of humanitarian assistance.

Nigeria: Non-governmental Organisations

Stephen Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what representations the Government has made to the United Nations on the expulsion of humanitarian international NGOs operating in in North-East Nigeria.

Andrew Stephenson: We are concerned that the Nigerian Military has closed the offices of Action Against Hunger and Mercy Corps in North East Nigeria. We have raised our concerns with the Head of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Nigeria and with our partners and are directly discussing this with senior leaders in the UN at a global level. We welcome the efforts of the UN Humanitarian Co-ordinator for Nigeria to push for a resolution to the dispute and for closer collaboration between the UN and Government of Nigeria.

Nigeria: Non-governmental Organisations

Stephen Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent assessment he has made of the effect on the humanitarian situation in North-East Nigeria of the closure of international NGO operations in that country.

Andrew Stephenson: We are very concerned that the Nigerian Army has closed the offices of Action against Hunger and Mercy Corps in North East Nigeria. NGOs in the North East of Nigeria, including Action Against Hunger and Mercy Corps, provide millions of people with crucial, life-saving assistance. When these organisations are forced to withdraw it has a huge impact on the lives of the most vulnerable. We have urged the Government of Nigeria to complete their investigations swiftly to resolve the dispute and to enable the uninterrupted delivery of humanitarian assistance. We must ensure unimpeded access for people in need in line with International Humanitarian Law.

Department for International Development: Crispin Odey

David Linden: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if he will publish (a) the outcome of all meetings and (b) all call logs between Ministers of his Department and Mr Crispin Odey.

Andrew Stephenson: There are no records of any meetings or calls between DFID Ministers and Mr Crispin Odey.

Overseas Aid: Environment Protection

Sir Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if he will commission a review of the conditions attached to Official Development Assistance to ensure that aid recipients follow accepted best practice in relation to (a) the disposal of plastic waste and (b) other environmental procedures.

Zac Goldsmith: DFID takes issues of plastics pollution and environmental degradation seriously. At the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, the UK Government committed £70 million to boost research into how to reduce the use of plastics and help countries prevent plastic waste entering our oceans. DFID is contributing up to £39 million, providing technical assistance to governments in developing countries who have committed to taking action, and testing practical approaches to increase plastic recycling rates through pilots in Bangladesh, Ghana and Uganda. At the recent UN meetings, the Prime Minister made several announcements on increasing the funding that the Government will provide to protect the environment and biodiversity and doubling the UK’s international climate finance to at least £11.6 billion over the period 2021-2025.

Department for Education

Apprentices: Barnsley

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many apprenticeships starts there were in Barnsley in each year since 2010.

Michelle Donelan: Holding answer received on 02 October 2019



The number of apprenticeship starts in Barnsley local authority in each year since 2010/11 can be found in the table attached.More detailed breakdowns of starts in local areas, by characteristics such as age, level and sector subject area are available in the further education data library: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/fe-data-library-apprenticeships.



290443_Table
(Excel SpreadSheet, 47.5 KB)

Adoption: Data Protection

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department has taken to ensure the security of data on children referred to Link Maker for adoption matching services.

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department is required to publish data on the number of (a) referrals and (b) matches made by Link Maker for all agencies in England and Wales.

Michelle Donelan: Holding answer received on 02 October 2019



Link Maker is a commercial provider and, as a commercial provider, they are required to comply with relevant data protection legislation. It is the responsibility of adoption agencies to ensure they are satisfied with the safeguards in place to protect the information they provide to any service they use. We expect adoption agencies to take measures to protect information that they are using to match a child with an adopter. The department is not required to publish data on the number of (a) referrals and (b) matches made by Link Maker for all agencies in England and Wales. Link Maker publish this data at: https://www.linkmaker.co.uk/data.

Adoption: Registration

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what his policy is on ensuring that the most vulnerable children previously matched through the statutory Adoption Register are found adoptive parents.

Michelle Donelan: Holding answer received on 02 October 2019



The Adoption Register closed on 31 March 2019. Children continue to be matched with families, with adoption agencies using a variety of systems where they need to seek interagency matches. We continue to monitor this and robust action will be taken if this changes. Two thirds of local authorities are now part of a Regional Adoption Agency (RAA) which aims to deliver more efficient recruitment of adopters and faster matching of children and families. The vast majority of remaining local authorities are on track to be in a live RAA by the end of 2020. We are working closely with RAA leaders who are coordinating National Adoption Week, with a strong focus on recruiting adopters for children in situations where it may be harder to place them. The Adoption and Special Guardianship Leadership Board collects data regarding the children waiting. The board can hold agencies to account for recruiting the right adopters for the children who are waiting in their area.

Special Educational Needs: Per Capita Costs

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the mean funding is per pupil for SEND provision in (a) York, (b) Yorkshire and the Humber and (c) England in each year since 2015.

Michelle Donelan: Holding answer received on 30 September 2019



Local authorities are required to provide sufficient funds to enable schools to meet the cost of additional support for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), up to the value of £6,000. This funding comes from the schools block of the Dedicated Schools Grant.When the costs of additional support required for a pupil with SEND exceed £6,000, the local authority should also allocate additional top-up funding to cover the excess costs. This top-up funding, and funding for special schools comes from the local authority’s high needs budget. In 2020-21, the department will provide more than £700 million, an 11% increase in one year, in additional high needs funding, bringing the national high needs funding total to over £7 billion. Every local authority will receive a minimum increase of 8% per head of their population aged 2-18 years old. The department will provide provisional allocations to local authorities in October.Below we have provided the schools and high needs funding allocations for 2015-16 to 2019-20 for Yorkshire and the Humber, York, and England. We have also provided the total number of children with both SEND support and education, health and care plans, although this does not include young people in further education. The department also does not hold specific figures on how much of each local authority’s schools’ budget has been spent on SEND.The schools and high needs funding allocations for 2015-16 to 2019-20 are as follows:Yorkshire and the Humber: YearSchools funding amountHigh needs funding amountTotal SEND numbers2015-16£3,243.3 million£436.2 million126,5442016-17£3,278.5 million£442.1 million117,7112017-18£3,334.7 million£476.3 million119,6732018-19£3,389.8 million£512.6 million*102,5302019-20£3,474.6 million£531.9 million*129,674 York: YearSchools funding amountHigh needs funding amountTotal SEND numbers2015-16£91.1 million£15.2 million3,1502016-17£92.2 million£15.5 million3,1092017-18£93.0 million£18.1 million3,1782018-19£94.1 million£19.1 million*3,3672019-20£98.2 million£19.5 million*3,409 England: YearSchools funding amountHigh needs funding amountTotal SEND numbers2015-16£32,168.1 million£5246.5 million1,301,4442016-17£32,650.3 million£5300.0 million1,228,7872017-18£33,093.6 million£5826.8 million1,244,2532018-19£33,684.0 million£6114.3 million*1,276,2162019-20£34,502.5 million£6270.6 million*1,318,328 * In December 2018, the department allocated an additional £250 million of high needs funding, in recognition of funding pressures. This additional funding is included within the final totals provided.

Sixth Form Colleges: Finance

Mr Gavin Shuker: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to increase funding for sixth form colleges in England in 2019-20.

Michelle Donelan: For the current academic year 2019-20, the department is protecting the base rate of funding at £4,000 for 16 to 19-year-olds at all types of provider, including sixth forms colleges. We are continuing to provide additional funding, for example over £500 million to support disadvantaged students. One new element of funding in this academic year is the advanced maths premium which provides additional funding of £600 for every additional young person studying specified level 3 maths qualifications. Our commitment to the 16 to 19 sector has contributed to the current record high proportion of 16 and 17-year-olds who are participating in education or apprenticeships, the highest since consistent records began.My right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of Exchequer announced on 31 August 2019 that the government will invest an extra £400 million in 16-19 education in 2020-21. This represents an increase of 7% in overall 16 to 19 funding and the biggest year-on-year increase since 2010, with funding increasing faster for 16-19 than in 5-16 schooling. This will ensure that we are building the skills that our country needs to thrive in the future. As part of this, the base rate of funding for all types of providers, including sixth form colleges, will be increased by 4.7% in academic year 2020-21, from £4,000 to £4,188.

Children in Care: Housing

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of applying Ofsted regulation to semi-independent accommodation for 16 and 17 year olds in care.

Michelle Donelan: Every child growing up in care should have a stable, secure environment where they feel supported. Meeting the individual needs of children in care and care leavers should be paramount in local authority decision making on placements. It is unacceptable for any child to be placed in provision that does not meet their needs and keep them safe. Where local authorities place children in settings that are not registered or inspected by Ofsted they are required by law to ensure that it is suitable, which is defined in statutory guidance and includes checks on the premises and any staff working there. Local authorities are held accountable for the care they provide to vulnerable children by Ofsted and we have written to all Directors of Children’s Services to remind them of this duty.We must do all that we can to ensure that our children are given the best possible quality of support. The department is working closely with Ofsted to consider next steps, including whether further regulation or registration of providers would be appropriate.

Climate Change: Education

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that environmentalism is in the National Curriculum; and what guidance his Department provides on teaching about climate change.

Nick Gibb: Topics related to climate change and the environment are included in both the science and geography curricula and qualifications.In primary science and geography, pupils are taught about the seasons, climate, and habitats of plants and animals. For example, they will look at how environments can change as a result of human actions. In secondary science pupils are taught more about the climate and environment, including about the production of carbon dioxide by human activity and the effect that this has on the climate. This is expanded on in GCSE science where pupils will consider the evidence for additional anthropogenic causes of climate change. As part of GCSE geography pupils will look at the causes, consequences of and responses to extreme weather conditions and natural weather hazards.In 2017, the Department introduced a new environmental science A level. This will enable students to study topics that will support their understanding of climate change and how it can be tackled.The Department is also funding the Children and Nature Programme, a £10m programme that aims to support children from disadvantaged backgrounds to have better access to the natural environment. This includes studying about nature and how to care for the natural environment.

Financial Services: Secondary Education

Mr Jonathan Lord: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of provision of teaching of financial literacy in secondary schools.

Nick Gibb: Since 2014 financial education has been statutory within the secondary national curriculum as part of citizenship and mathematics. Financial education ensures that pupils are taught the functions and uses of money, the importance of personal budgeting, money management and managing financial risk.The Ofsted inspection framework sets out how inspections take a view on the quality of the broad and balanced education that a school provides. This includes how schools provide pupils with the knowledge and skills needed to take advantage of opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of later life, which can include financial education, as well as how curriculum subjects such as citizenship contribute to pupils’ personal development.There are a number of organisations that support financial education for young people. Young Money recently launched a free financial education textbook for secondary schools, to support high quality teaching of the subject. The Department is currently working with the Money and Pension Service and HM Treasury to consider how we can further support the teaching of financial education in schools.

Primary Education: Surrey

Mr Jonathan Lord: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the availability of primary school places in (a) Woking constituency and (b) Surrey.

Nick Gibb: Local authorities are under a statutory duty to ensure that there is a school place available for every child. The Department provides basic need funding for every place that is needed, based on local authorities’ data on pupil forecasts. Surrey has been allocated £287.4 million to provide new school places from 2011-21.The Department collects pupil forecasts, existing school capacities, and plans to deliver additional school places from each local authority via the annual school capacity survey. Information from local authorities, together with information on centrally funded projects to add places, such as new free schools, is used to produce estimates of the future need for school places.The Department only collects data at local authority and planning area level, and so does not hold data at constituency level. The latest available modelled estimates for Surrey show that there will be a net surplus of 4,633 primary places in the current academic year. This is forecast to increase to a net surplus of 5,963 primary places by 2022-23. The latest published data also shows that 14,658 new primary places have been created in Surrey between 2010 and 2018.

GCE A-level and GCSE

Mr Jonathan Lord: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of trends in the level of grade inflation in (a) GCSEs and (b) A Levels since 2010.

Nick Gibb: The maintenance of standards for GCSEs and A levels is a matter for Ofqual, the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation. I have asked its Chief Regulator, Sally Collier, to write to my hon. Friend, and a copy of her reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

Special Educational Needs: Garston and Halewood

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the effect of the reduction in funding for high needs support on mainstream SEND provision in the Garston and Halewood constituency.

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding his Department allocated to (a) Liverpool City Council and (b) Knowsley Borough Council to support children with SEND needs in each year since April 2010.

Michelle Donelan: The information requested is not held centrally as the department does not break funding allocations down to a constituency level.Local authorities are required to provide sufficient funds to enable schools to meet the cost of additional support for pupils with special educational needs (SEN) and disabilities, up to the value of £6,000. This funding comes from the schools block of the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG).When the costs of additional support required for a pupil with SEN exceed £6,000, the local authority should also allocate additional top-up funding to cover the excess costs. This top-up funding and funding for special schools comes from the local authority’s high needs budget.In 2013, the schools and high needs budgets within the DSG were created. As the DSG includes other budgets such as the early years budget, the department is unable to provide comparable figures before the creation of the blocks within the DSG in 2013-14.In 2020-21, we will provide more than £700 million in additional high needs funding, bringing the national high needs funding total to over £7 billion. Every local authority will receive a minimum increase of 8% per head of their population aged 2-18 years old. We will provide provisional allocations to local authorities in October.Schools and high needs funding allocations for 2013-14 to 2019-20 are as follows. In December 2018, the department allocated an additional £250 million of high needs funding nationally, in recognition of funding pressures. This additional funding is included within the final totals displayed.In Knowsley:YearSchools funding figureHigh needs funding figure2013-14£87.9 million£19.2 million2014-15£86.3 million£19.8 million2015-16£85.5 million£19.7 million2016-17£85.4 million£19.9 million2017-18£87.5 million£19.7 million2018-19£89.7 million£19.6 million2019-20£92.5 million£20.3 million And in Liverpool:YearSchools funding figureHigh needs funding figure2013-14£266.9 million£41.4 million2014-15£267.3 million£42.9 million2015-16£289.0 million£44.0 million2016-17£292.9 million£44.3 million2017-18£301.1 million£46.1 million2018-19£302.6 million£47.3 million2019-20£310.3 million£49.6 million Both of these blocks are funded on a per-pupil basis, so where there are reductions in funding from one year to the next, this is a reflection of a reduction in pupil numbers.

Apprentices: Taxation

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much Apprenticeship Levy funding was drawn down by the NHS on a monthly basis in the financial years (a) 2017-18, (b) 2018-19 and (c) 2019-20 to date.

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much Apprenticeship Levy funding was not used within the 24 month period by NHS organisations in each month in the financial years (a) 2017-18, (b) 2018-19, and (c) 2019-20 to date.

Michelle Donelan: The information requested is not held centrally.As the NHS is made up of a large number of diverse employers, it is not possible to identify apprenticeship levy spend or expired funds for the NHS as a whole. Moreover, due to taxpayer confidentiality, we are unable to publish the amount that individual employers have contributed through the apprenticeship levy.

Stem Subjects: Females

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many women have started courses in STEM subjects at colleges in Dudley in each of the last five years.

Michelle Donelan: The attached table provides the number of aims delivered on STEM-related courses for females in Dudley in education and training provision, for each academic year since 2013/14 and covers all further education (FE) providers. In addition, there is a second table providing the number of female starts on STEM-related apprenticeships. Both tables include students of all ages for Dudley as well as for England.The tables provide the number of learning aims (i.e. courses, programmes, qualifications and units) students have taken in STEM-related FE sector subject areas.This data includes a student more than once where they take or progress to more than one aim/qualification in STEM.



291308_Table
(Excel SpreadSheet, 59.5 KB)

University Technical Colleges: Apprentices

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans his Department has to increase the take-up of apprenticeships through university technical colleges.

Michelle Donelan: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 6 September 2019 to Question 286154.

Special Educational Needs

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to address the disparity in the provision of SEND support for children between different areas and local authorities in England in the upcoming Review into Support for Children with Special Educational Needs.

Michelle Donelan: Holding answer received on 01 October 2019



The department is aware of the disparity which exists in the provision of special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) support between different areas of the country and has taken a number of steps to understand and address the issue.For example, we have recently announced an additional £700 million for children with SEND in 2020-21, so every pupil can access the education that is right for them, and none are held back from reaching their potential. This represents an increase of over 11% on the funding available this year, bringing the total high needs funding budget to over £7 billion.We are analysing responses to a call for evidence about the SEND and alternative provision financial arrangements in England. This will help us understand how the current available funding is distributed, and what improvements could be made in future.We have also asked Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission to inspect all local areas, over a 5 year period, on how effectively they are fulfilling their duties for children and young people with SEND. Where any significant local weaknesses are identified, the department’s SEND advisers work with NHS England to provide tailored support and challenge to the local authority and Clinical Commissioning Groups. They will also signpost them to funded training opportunities and resources delivered by external contractors to maximise their impact. The local areas are revisited by Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission to assess their progress over an 18 month period and the department may initiate formal intervention activities in a local area where necessary.On 6 September 2019, the government announced the launch of a cross-cutting review of SEND provision, 5 years on from the launch of Children and Families Act 2014. The review will include education, health and care, and will allow the department to revisit consistency of support across different local areas and consider what further action may be required.

Apprentices: Yorkshire and the Humber

Sir Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many apprenticeship starts there were in (a) East Yorkshire constituency and (b) Yorkshire in each year since 2015.

Michelle Donelan: The number of apprenticeship starts in the East Yorkshire parliamentary constituency and the Yorkshire and the Humber region in each academic year since 2005/06 are given in the attached table.More detailed breakdowns of starts in local areas, by characteristics such as age, level and sector subject area are available in the further education data library:  https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/fe-data-library-apprenticeships.



291271_Table
(Excel SpreadSheet, 45.5 KB)

GCE A-Level: Wales

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the good comparative attainment of Welsh A-level students in 2019, what plans he has to commission a lessons learned review of education in England.

Nick Gibb: The Department for Education has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Social Media: Education

Ian Blackford: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the Government is taking to ensure young people are being appropriately educated on safe use of social media to prevent violent language and violent acts becoming the norm in society.

Nick Gibb: The Department for Education has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

National Vocational Qualifications

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, for what reasons his Department's plans to publish Progress 8 data do not include key data on BTEC Level 2 qualifications; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Gibb: The Department for Education has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Children's Centres: Closures

Yvette Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will publish a list including the postcode locations of the Sure Start children’s centres that have closed between 2010 and the most recent year for which figures are available.

Michelle Donelan: Data on children’s centres is supplied by local authorities via the department’s Get Information about Schools (GIAS) database portal at: https://www.get-information-schools.service.gov.uk/.Based on the information supplied by local authorities[1], the attached spreadsheet provides details of the name and post-code of children’s centres that closed between 2010 and 30 September 2019. [1] The list of children’s centres closed between 2010 and 30 September 2019 is based on information supplied by local authorities as at 1 October 2019 (10:00am). These figures may be different to previous answers, and could change again in future, since local authorities may update the database at any time. 



292103_table
(Excel SpreadSheet, 105 KB)

Political Parties: Advertising

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what his Department's policy is on political advertising in schools.

Nick Gibb: The Department for Education has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Schools: Advertising

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the cost to the public purse has been on advertising in schools in relation to the UK leaving the EU in the last six months.

Nick Gibb: The Department for Education has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Teachers: Pay

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the cost to schools of increasing starting salaries for teachers to £30,000.

Nick Gibb: The Department for Education has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Teachers: Pay Settlements

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make it his policy to apply national pay settlements to teachers working in academy schools.

Nick Gibb: The Department for Education has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Schools: Finance

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when he plans to implement a schools level national funding formula; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Gibb: The Department for Education has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

T-levels: Finance

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how the £25 million funding for T levels announced in the Spending Round 2019 will be allocated.

Michelle Donelan: The £25 million represents the difference in funding for T levels in 2020-21 compared with 2019-20. This additional funding will support delivery of the first 3 T levels from 2020. It will also enable funding for providers and employers to deliver industry placements and to further build their capacity for these placements across all technical routes. In addition, some of the funding will be allocated via the Early Adopter Development Fund to the early providers in recognition of the costs associated with engaging in co-design of the qualifications and working with the department on T level and transition framework policy development.

Ministry of Justice

Marriage: Humanism

Dr Sarah Wollaston: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what plans he has to bring forward legislative proposals to amend section 14 of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 to give legal recognition to humanist marriages before waiting for the outcome of the Law Commission’s review.

Wendy Morton: The Law Commission review that the Government announced this June is a fundamental review of the law on how and where people can legally marry in England and Wales. As part of that review, the Government invited the Law Commission to make recommendations about how marriage by humanist and other non-religious belief organisations could be incorporated into a revised or new scheme for all marriages that is simple, fair and consistent.

Marriage: Humanism

Dr Sarah Wollaston: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, for what reasons the Law Commission is undertaking a review into humanist marriages.

Wendy Morton: The Law Commission review that the Government announced this June is a fundamental review of the law on how and where people can legally marry in England and Wales. The law has been added to over several centuries without any systematic reform. As part of that review, the Government invited the Law Commission to make recommendations about how marriage by humanist and other non-religious belief organisations could be incorporated into a revised or new scheme for all marriages that is simple, fair and consistent. The Law Commission has published the terms of reference for the review at https://www.lawcom.gov.uk/project/weddings/.

Marriage: Finance

Dr Sarah Wollaston: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what funding has been allocated to the Law Commission review of the law on marriage.

Wendy Morton: The Law Commission will review the law on how and where people can marry in England and Wales, and will provide recommendations for a simple, fair and consistent system which gives couples choice in to marry in a way that is meaningful to them. The cost of this project will be approximately £400,000. This cost is for the resource for two years of a project team made up of one full-time lawyer, one full-time research assistant, a proportion of the time of a team manager and some travel, publication and translation costs (totalling approximately £150,000 per year) plus the cost of engaging a specialist academic (£50,000 per year).

Parole

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he has plans to undertake a review of the Parole Board guidance on remorse shown by an offender following the release of Vanessa George.

Lucy Frazer: Guidance to Parole Board members is a matter for the independent Parole Board. It would be inappropriate for the Government to review guidance issued by an independent body making judicial decisions. The Parole Board already provides guidance and training to Parole Board members to enable its members to decide whether a prisoner’s continued imprisonment is necessary for the protection of the public. This is a decision focused on an assessment of future risk and will ordinarily look at: the circumstances of the original offending; whether there is any evidence of change whilst in custody; and an assessment of whether risk can be managed in the community if the prisoner were to be released. In making decisions parole panels must take account of all the written and oral evidence provided, including whether the prisoner expresses remorse. Whilst remorse, or lack of it, cannot be determinative in a parole decision, in making its decisions a Parole Board panel will take account of a prisoner’s attitude to their original offences; their insight into the impact of their offending on victims; and the extent to which they now take responsibility for their offences.

Trials: Legal Costs

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what legislation or guidelines determine who should pay the cost of counsel when a court case is adjourned the night before that trial is scheduled to take place.

Wendy Morton: For publicly funded criminal legal aid work, payment for the trial advocate (or counsel) in the Crown Court is determined in accordance with fees set out in Schedule 1 of The Criminal Legal Aid (Remuneration) Regulations 2013. The Crown Court Fee Guidance published by the Legal Aid Agency provides further guidance. Paragraph 16, Schedule 1 of the Remuneration Regulations states that an ineffective trial fixed fee is payable in respect of each day on which the case was listed for trial but did not proceed on the day for which it was listed, for whatever reason. The fee payable is set out at paragraph 24 of Schedule 1 of the Regulations and there are different fees according to the category of advocate instructed in the trial.

Children in Care

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many referrals from Independent Reviewing Officers to CAFCASS on behalf of children in care have resulted in legal action in each of the last 10 years.

Wendy Morton: No referrals from Independent Reviewing Officers (IROs) to Cafcass on behalf of children in care have resulted in legal proceedings in the last 10 years. 20 referrals were made to Cafcass by IROs during the period in question. Cafcass responds to every referral and appoints a Cafcass officer (often the previous guardian) to provide an independent assessment of the child’s circumstances. Cafcass seeks in-house legal advice for each referral which will recommend whether legal action should be commenced in order to protect the child’s interests. In all cases, Cafcass enters into negotiation with the local authority to try to resolve any dispute by negotiation or mediation to achieve the best outcome for the child and most referrals are resolved by agreement. Cafcass takes every step possible to ensure a child's human rights are effectively protected and would not hesitate to take court action when there is no other effective way to achieve a positive outcome for the child.

Post-mortems

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of testing for the use of Gamma-hydroxybutyrate in postmortems when the cause of death is unclear.

Wendy Morton: The Government has no plans to make such an assessment. As independent judicial office holders it is for coroners to determine which tests are made as part of their investigation. Coroners have the necessary powers to order post mortem examinations, including the testing by a pathologist for substances such as Gamma-hydroxybutyrate.

Judiciary: Ministers

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he has made an assessment of the adequacy of the guidance issued to Ministers on relations with the judiciary.

Chris Philp: Section 3(1) of the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 requires that all Ministers of the Crown must uphold the continued independence of the judiciary. Paragraph 16 of the introduction and Chapter 6 of the Cabinet Manual make clear that the judiciary is independent of both the government of the day and Parliament. All ministers have access to legal advice in relation to their statutory duties, including advice where appropriate from Law Officers.The Lord Chancellor has taken an Oath to respect the rule of law and defend the independence of the judiciary, which means that if required he will remind Ministerial colleagues of the importance of judicial independence and the rule of law. I am confident that my Ministerial colleagues understand their duties in this regard.

Probate

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if Her Majesty's Courts & Tribunals Service will publish (a) weekly data on the number of probate grants issued in England and Wales and (b) up to date data on the average time between application for and grant of probate.

Chris Philp: Quarterly data on the number of probate grants issued in England and Wales are published within the Family Court Statistics Quarterly bulletin: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/family-court-statistics-quarterly. The latest publication was on 26th September, however the requested information for April-June 2019 has not yet been published while we investigate quality issues identified in the transition between two data systems.Currently there are no plans to publish this data weekly but statisticians seek views from users as part of their regular consultation on the statistics to ensure they meet the Code of Practice for Statistics with regard to quality and value.Statisticians are considering adding data on timeliness and will work in consultation with colleagues in Her Majesty’s Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) and users of the data to confirm their plans prior to any publication.

Probate

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when waiting times for probate grants issued in England and Wales will return to below the historical average of three weeks.

Chris Philp: Her Majesty’s Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) has increased staffing levels and further improved the digital service to help reduce waiting times. HMCTS is committed to continuing to bring waiting times down further and aims to be back to normal waiting times for grants on new, complete, applications as soon as possible.

Courts and Tribunals: Closures

Yvette Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will publish a list of the courts and tribunals, including the postcode locations, that have closed between 2010-11 and the most recent financial year for which figures are available.

Chris Philp: Details of court and tribunal buildings closed between 2010-11 to 2016-17 was published in answer to Parliamentary Question 147811. The requested information for 2017-18 onwards is provided belowCourt and tribunal buildings closed during 2017-18 financial yearPostcodeAylesbury Crown CourtHP20 1XDBarnsley Wellington HouseS70 1WABicester Magistrates' CourtOX26 2NZBirmingham AIT (Sheldon Court)B4 6DSBirmingham Magistrates' Youth CourtB4 6BJBolton Magistrates' CourtBL1 1UABow County CourtE15 4EGBristol Vintry HouseBS1 2BPBury Magistrates' & County CourtBL9 0HXCaernarfon Civil and Family CourtLL55 2DfCheltenham Rivershill House - Cheltenham TribunalGL50 3EXChichester Magistrates' CourtPO19 1YEDerby Derwent CourtDE1 1SGDover Magistrates' CourtCT16 1BSEast Parade - Sheffield TribunalS1 2ETEastbourne Magistrates' & County CourtBN21 4UNHammersmith Magistrates' CourtW6 8DNHolyhead Magistrates' CourtLL65 1HGKendal Magistrates' & County CourtLA9 4NFKettering County CourtNN16 0BELambeth County CourtSE11 4DZLancaster County CourtLA1 1JWLlangefni Civil and Family CourtLL77 7ENOldham County CourtOL1 1NLStafford Magistrates' CourtST16 3DWStoke-on-Trent Tribunal Hearing Centre (Bennett House)ST1 2QBSunderland AS Hylton ParkSR5 3HDTelford County CourtTF3 4JPTorquay Magistrates' CourtTQ1 4BPWatford Magistrates' CourtWD17 1STWoolwich County CourtSE18 6JW   Court and tribunal buildings closed during 2018-2019 financial yearPostcodeBanbury Magistrates’ and County CourtOX16 2AWChichester Combined CourtPO19 1SXChippenham Magistrates' & Civil CourtSN15 3BFChorley Magistrates’ CourtPR7 1RZMaidenhead Magistrates’ CourtSL6 8PBShrewsbury Crown CourtSY2 6LUSunderland County CourtSR1 1RBCourt and tribunal buildings closed between 1 April and 30 September 2019PostcodeColchester County CourtCO3 3EGFleetwood Magistrates’ Court (sitting as a Family Hearing Centre)FY7 6HJHarlow Magistrates' CourtCM20 1JANorthallerton Magistrates' CourtDL7 8QZSouthend County CourtSS1 2AW   The closure of any court is not taken lightly – it only happens following full public consultation and when communities have reasonable access to alternative courts. We are reinvesting every penny raised from selling these underused buildings into modernising the justice system to provide swifter and easier access to justice for all.

Prisons: Crimes of Violence

Mr Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners have been convicted of a serious assault on a prison officer in each of the last five years; and what additional sentence those prisoners were given as a result those assaults.

Lucy Frazer: It is not possible to identify the proportion of serious assaults on prison staff that resulted in a criminal conviction in each of the last five years. Detailed information may be held on court record but to be able to identify these cases we would have to access individual court records which would be of disproportionate cost.

Homicide: Prison Sentences

Mr Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people convicted of homicide did not receive a custodial sentence in each of the last five years.

Chris Philp: The Ministry of Justice has published information on the sentencing outcomes for offenders convicted of homicide offences (murder, manslaughter and infanticide) in each of the last 5 years. This information is available in the Outcomes by Offence data tool available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/802314/outcomes-by-offence-tool-2018.xlsx Filter ‘Offence’ to ‘1 Murder’, ‘4.1 Manslaughter’ and ‘4.2 Infanticide’.

Prisoners' Release: Homicide

Mr Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many offenders released from prison following a murder conviction have been on life licence in each year since 2007.

Mr Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many offenders serving a life sentence for murder have been released on licence since 2007; and how many of those people were subsequently convicted of (a) another murder, (b) violence against the person and (c) another offence.

Mr Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many offenders serving life sentences for murder that were released on licence did not commit another offence in each year since 2007.

Lucy Frazer: The decision to direct the release of a prisoner serving a mandatory life sentence for murder, once the prisoner has completed the minimum term of imprisonment (the tariff) set by the Court, is by law solely a matter for the independent Parole Board. The Board will direct the prisoner’s release on life licence where it assesses that it is no longer necessary for the protection of the public that the prisoner remain detained in custody. In making its assessment, the Parole Board has regard to a dossier of evidence about the prisoner’s current risk, including reports from a probation offender manager and a prison offender supervisor. The number of prisoners serving a mandatory life sentence for murder whom the Parole Board has released in each year since 2007 is set out in the table below. The Ministry of Justice publishes these tables as part of the Offender Management Statistics Quarterly publication. This is available online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/offender-management-statistics-quarterly  Year of first release200720082009201020112012201320142015201620172018Mandatory lifersNumber909873115160172220147235235308264 The Ministry of Justice is also able to provide information about the number of offenders who were convicted of a murder while on life licence for a previous murder, by matching data held about Serious Further Offences (SFOs)* with the data on releases. However, the Department is not able to provide data about offences for violence against the person or other offences without incurring disproportionate costs, because it is not possible to match release data with data held on the Police National Computer (PNC) without a large manual checking exercise. For the same reason, we cannot provide information about the number of offenders who did not commit further offences following release on life licence.Offenders Released from a Life Sentence for Murder who went on to Commit another Murder while on Life Licence *Release Year200720082009201020112012201320142015201620172018Number221103210100 SFOs are rare. Fewer than 0.5% of offenders under statutory supervision are charged with serious further offences *Data is only held on SFOs committed in or after 2009

Department for International Trade

Iran: International Military Services

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether the Government pursues any export credit guarantees in relation to IMS Ltd’s operations in Iran as sovereign debt.

Conor Burns: UK Export Finance (UKEF) is seeking recoveries in respect of claims paid in relation to insurance it provided to IMS Ltd for an export contract with the Iranian defence ministry in the late 1970s.

Department for International Trade: Crispin Odey

David Linden: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, if she will publish (a) the outcome of all meetings and (b) all call logs between Ministers of her Department and Mr Crispin Odey.

Conor Burns: Ministers for the Department for International Trade have held no meetings or calls with Mr. Crispin Odey.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

North West: Brexit

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent meetings Ministers and Official in his Department have had with (a) businesses and (b) public authorities in the North West on the effect of the UK leaving the EU without a deal on 31 October 2019; and if he will make a statement.

Luke Hall: Officials in my Department undertake extensive engagement with the sector, including a series of events for all councils, a monthly meeting between the Secretary of State and council leaders, a monthly teleconference with all Chief Executives and Brexit Lead Officers and weekly dialogue with a network of nine Chief Executives who represent their regions on Brexit. There are also regular mailouts, bulletins and dedicated web pages to bring together relevant information, advice and guidance on Brexit from across Whitehall.

Sleeping Rough: Life Expectancy

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department have made of the average life expectancy of rough sleepers in each of the last five years.

Luke Hall: The government does not collect data on the average age of death of rough sleepers. The Office for National Statistics does collect data on average age of death of rough sleepers. This data, which covers 2013 to 2017, can be found at: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/bulletins/deathsofhomelesspeopleinenglandandwales/2013to2017. These figures do not relate to life expectancy. We are aware that poor health is prevalent amongst individuals who sleep rough which is why we are working with the Department of Health and Social Care to ensure that those who are homeless get the health care that they need.The government is committed to reducing homelessness and rough sleeping. No one should ever have to sleep rough. That is why last summer we published the cross-government Rough Sleeping Strategy. This sets out an ambitious £100 million package to help people who sleep rough now, but also puts in place the structures that will end rough sleeping once and for all. It includes measures to improve the health outcomes of those who sleep rough.This government has now committed over £1.2 billion to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping over the spending review period to April 2020. In 2020/2021 we are providing a further £422 million to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping. This marks a £54 million increase in funding from the previous year. This highlights the government’s continued focus on Homelessness and Rough Sleeping, and we will announce how this additional funding has been allocated in due course.

Children in Care: Protection

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the report of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Runaway and Missing Children and Adults entitled, No place at home, published in September 2019, if his Department will allocated resources to local authorities in areas with high rates of county lines grooming and exploitation to ensure the provision of (a) in-area placements and (b) accommodation to children and young people (i) involved in and (ii) vulnerable to county lines criminal exploitation through (A) children’s services, (B) social housing services and (C) temporary and emergency housing.

Luke Hall: We are working across government to reduce the risk of children being criminally exploited and groomed by gangs, including involvement in ‘County Lines’. Last year we strengthened the statutory guidance for safeguarding children, ‘Working Together’, to support practitioners in preventing child criminal exploitation. We are also investing £2 million in the Tackling Child Exploitation Support Programme, to provide dedicated advice and practical support to local area partnerships, focused on developing effective multi-agency responses to identifying the risks and warning signs of exploitation so that action can be taken early.Ensuring children and young people have safe and secure living arrangements is absolutely vital in reducing the risks of criminal exploitation. This is particularly important for children in care, who are some of society’s most vulnerable children. We have made over £200 billion available until 2020 for councils to deliver local services, including children’s services, and provided a further £410 million in 2019-20 for local authorities to invest in adult and children’s social care services. Thinking ahead to next year, we are now able to confirm that all social care grants available this year will continue at least flat in cash terms.Taken together with a new £1 billion cash grant for social care, this means that councils will benefit from having £2.9 billion of extra funding available to them for the core services that are so important to residents. Beyond social care, we are protecting vital front-line services by increasing elements of core settlement funding in line with inflation, and we will consult on a 2 per cent core council tax principle for all councils next year.Outside of the main Local Government Finance Settlement, local government will also see increases from wider resources made available this Spending Round, including a £700 million increase in grant funding for children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities.Local authorities have a statutory duty to make sure that there is sufficient provision to meet the needs of children in their care. We are supporting local authorities to increase the sufficiency of care placements and ensure that placements meet children’s needs, including investing part of our £200 million children’s social care Innovation Programme into three residential care projects to increase councils’ capacity and improve commissioning practice.Government provides largely un-ringfenced funding to councils, giving them freedom over the money they receive. This allows them to work with their residents to decide how best to make their spending decisions.

Community Land Trusts

Mr Jonathan Lord: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to create new community land trusts.

Esther McVey: The government recognises that the community-led housing sector – of which community land trusts are an important part – offers significant potential for helping to meet housing need across England. In addition to helping increase the rate of delivery of new housing, it will help deliver a range of benefits including diversifying the house building sector, improving design and construction quality, developing modern methods of construction, and sustaining local communities and local economies. The support and close involvement of the local community enables the community-led approach to secure planning permission and deliver housing that could not be brought forward through speculative development.   The principal way in which the government supports the community-led housing sector is through the Community Housing Fund. The fund is administered in England (outside London) by Homes England and, within London, by the Greater London Authority. Capital and revenue grants are available to appropriately constituted community-based groups to help them develop house building projects. £6 million has also been made available to Community Led Homes – a consortium of the leading community-led housing stakeholder organisations – to help develop the sector. Through Community Led Homes, revenue grants are available to groups wishing to establish themselves as community land trusts or any other legal form appropriate for taking forward a community-led housing project The Community Housing Fund aims to support an increase in housing supply in England by increasing the number of additional homes delivered by the community-led housing sector; to provide housing that is affordable at local income levels and remains so in perpetuity; and to deliver a lasting legacy for the sector in the form of an effective and financially self-sustaining body of expertise within the house building industry in England.

Homelessness: Finance

Paul Farrelly: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on increasing financial support for provisions of the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017.

Luke Hall: This government has now committed over £1.2 billion to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping over the spending review period to April 2020. In 2020/2021 we are providing a further £422 million to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping. This marks a £54 million increase in funding from the previous year. This highlights the government’s continued focus on Homelessness and Rough Sleeping, and we will announce how this additional funding has been allocated in due course.The government has provided £72.7 million in new burdens funding for local authorities to implement the Homeslessness Reduction Act 2017. We are currently undertaking a review of the Act which includes a review of the new burdens funding.Alongside this financial support the Department established the Homelessness Advice and Support Team (HAST). HAST is made up of experts from the homelessness sector and local authorities. The team has been working with, and supporting, local authorities to help them bring in the Act. They continue to provide support and assistance to improve their homelessness services. This assistance has been well received.

Buildings: Fire Prevention

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of establishing a national buildings register of all high-risk buildings over 11m in height in England to store information such as construction materials used fire safety certification.

Esther McVey: The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Empty Property: Shops

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to reduce the number of empty shops on high streets in England and Wales.

Jake Berry: Our Plan for the High Street announced in Autumn Budget 2018 included a number of measures to address the number of empty shops on high streets. The Open Doors pilot tests a new way to address this challenge by matching landlords of empty commercial properties across England with community groups looking for space; whilst the pilot register for empty commercial properties will improve the transparency of ownership on the high street, making it easier to bring empty shops into use. Our Plan for the High Street also included commitments to cut business rates bills of small retailers by one third.In the Spring Statement of March 2019, the government announced new and amended permitted development rights to support high streets making it easier to change the use of high street properties as well as extending temporary change of use to enable more community use of empty properties.

Towns Fund

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what the criteria was for the selection of the 100 places to benefit from the recently announced new Towns Fund.

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Ministerial Statement of  9 September 2019 on Local Government update, HCWS 1830, if he will place in the Library a copy of the selection criteria by which the 100 places invited to develop proposals for town deals were decided.

Jake Berry: As part of the process of identifying the initial 100 places, towns have been chosen on the basis of a robust selection methodology. This took into account various qualitative and quantitative indicators. These included income deprivation, skills, productivity, EU exit exposure, economic shocks, investment opportunities, and policy alignment.

Housing

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether each local authority in (a) England and (b) Wales (i) exceeds, (ii) meets or (iii) fails to meet their identified housing need, as outlined by his Department's most recent indicative assessment of housing need, using the National Planning Policy Framework's criteria.

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether each local authority in (a) England and (b) Wales (i) exceeds, (ii) meets or (iii) fails to meet their objectively assessed need, using the National Planning Policy Framework's criteria.

Esther McVey: The objectively assessed need of individual local authorities is not recorded by government. It is for local authorities to calculate their development needs which influences the level of development authorities plan for. Through the Housing Delivery Test the delivery of the number of homes planned is measured. We published the first measurement on 19 February 2019 and they can be found on https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/housing-delivery-test-2018-measurement. The National Planning Policy Framework introduced a standard method for assessing the minimum number of homes that an area needs. However, this is a starting point in the process and does not specify how many homes should actually be built, therefore delivery against these numbers is not measured. These matters are devolved to the Welsh Government in Wales.

Port of Tyne: Finance

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, for what reasons the Port of Tyne has not received grants from the Brexit Readiness Fund.

Luke Hall: Across 2017/18 and 2018/19, my Department has made available £77 million to help local areas prepare for Brexit. This includes £60 million that has been distributed between all local authorities in England, and an additional £8.15 million allocated to further support councils which either have, or are near to, a major air, land or sea port to ensure they continue to operate efficiently.   The additional funding for councils with ports is to boost those councils’ capacity and help them put in place measures that will protect the services that residents, communities and businesses rely upon. The allocations for this funding have been based on a number of factors including the expected impact on the local area, the amount of EU goods received by port areas into the country and the areas’ wider importance to the UK’s trade network. The Port of Tyne is within the boundaries of North Tyneside Council, which has received £314,952 of Brexit capacity funding from MHCLG.

Members: Correspondence

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, for what reason Ministers of his Department are unable to comment on specific buildings with cladding issues raised in correspondence dated 25 September 2019 with the hon. Member for Croydon North.

Esther McVey: The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Housing: Insulation

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the number of homes in England that have been valued at £0 because surveyors could not be sure that the cladding and insulation on the buildings were not flammable.

Esther McVey: The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Parking: Codes of Practice

Dr Paul Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what progress he has made in the preparation of a Code of Practice under the Parking (Code of Practice) Act 2019; if he will ensure that the Code (a) requires private parking service providers comply with the Equality Act 2010 and (b) gives specific consideration to car park users who have a (i) dementia diagnosis, (ii) development disorder and (c) learning disability; and if he will make a statement.

Luke Hall: The government is committed to developing and implementing the Code of Practice as soon as possible. The Act requires that the Code be developed in consultation with stakeholders. In this spirit, the government is keen not to pre-empt the stakeholder engagement process, which will determine the content of the Code. We are currently considering the options for the delivery of the Code, as well as the format for engaging stakeholders, and will make an announcement in due course. We are also committed to carrying out a public consultation on the draft Code of Practice, allowing all interested parties to directly respond to the proposals, as well as a Public Sector Equality Duty assessment.

Stronger Towns Fund and Towns Fund: Leigh

Jo Platt: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 30 September 2019 to Question 291138, on Stronger Towns Fund: Leigh, if he will publish (a) the full methodology and (b) the score of each town within Leigh constituency.

Jake Berry: As part of the process of identifying the initial 100 places, towns have been chosen on the basis of a robust selection methodology. This took into account various qualitative and quantitative indicators including income deprivation, skills, productivity, EU exit exposure, economic shocks, investment opportunities, and policy alignment.As the development of Town Deal proposals is a live process it would not be appropriate for the Department to publish individual scores.

Affordable Housing and Social Rented Housing: North West

Ms Angela Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans his Department has to increase the provision of (a) affordable and (b) social housing in (i) the North West, (ii) Merseyside and (iii) Wallasey.

Esther McVey: The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Help to Buy Scheme: North West

Ms Angela Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many homes have been purchased through the Help to Buy scheme in (a) the North West, (b) Merseyside and (c) Wallasey in each of the last six years.

Esther McVey: The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Towns Fund

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when he plans to publish the Towns Fund prospectus.

Jake Berry: The Government will publish a Towns Fund prospectus shortly in order to provide greater detail on how the fund will operate.

Digital Technology: Urban Areas

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government what steps he is taking to support the digitalisation of high streets in small towns and villages.

Jake Berry: High streets are changing and this government is committed to helping communities adapt. The Prime Minister recently announced a £3.6 billion Towns Fund as part of government’s vision to unite and level up cities, towns, coastal and rural areas, including small towns and villages, across our country. This Fund includes £1 billion for the Future High Streets Fund to support transformation on our high streets, and it will support local places to identify investment opportunities to support adaptation of the high street in response to changing technology.In addition, we are providing support  for local leadership on our high streets and town centres with a High Streets Task Force. This will provide high streets and town centres with expert advice to adapt and thrive to changes in the market, providing support to local areas to develop data-driven strategies and connecting local areas to relevant experts.Digitisation of high streets also forms a part of judging criteria of the Great British High Street Awards 2019, with one of the four aspects of the judging criteria focusing on digital transformation. High streets have been asked to showcase how they have used innovative new technologies or digital connectivity to transform their high street community.To support deployment of 5G and further improve mobile coverage, we launched a joint consultation with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport on 27 August, on proposals to reform the planning regime in England. We are seeking views on the principle of amending or creating new permitted development rights for operators so that communities can benefit from extended coverage.The Digital Skills Partnership also seeks to improve digital capability across the whole skills spectrum - from the essential skills that help reduce digital exclusion, to the skills workers need in an increasingly digital economy, and through to the advanced skills required for specialist roles. The government is working with Local Enterprise Partnerships and combined authorities to help establish Local Digital Skills Partnerships across the country to tackle local digital skills challenges and build thriving and inclusive local economies.

Ministry of Defence

Navy: Fisheries

Douglas Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what plans he has to increase the capacity of the UK’s marine patrol vessels to patrol fishing waters in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.

Mark Lancaster: Fisheries control and enforcement is a devolved matter. As such, it will continue to be for each Devolved Administration to decide how best to control its waters, and what new arrangements may be needed. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) continues to work closely with the Devolved Administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to ensure a coordinated approach to fisheries control and enforcement across UK waters. In England, the Marine Management Organisation on behalf of DEFRA has assessed the risk of increased illegal fishing when the UK leaves the EU, including under the scenario of doing so without a deal. As such DEFRA have decided to strengthen the allocated resources. This includes an increase to the number of Royal Navy vessels allocated to the task and increased sea time to enhance patrolling capacity at sea.

Armed Conflict: Children

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the mandate of the UN Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, created by the UN General Assembly in December 1996, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that allied forces receive training on children affected by armed conflict.

Mark Lancaster: The UK Ministry of Defence runs a bi-annual Human Security Advisers Course which educates UK and International personnel in the principles of UN Security Council Resolutions on Women, Peace and Security, Children and Armed Conflict, Human Trafficking and Protection of Civilians. The course also aims to train personnel in how best to implement these principles on operations. Since 2018, students from international militaries have included; Pakistan, Iraq, Malaysia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Somalia, Canada, United States, Afghanistan and Bangladesh.In December 2019, the UK will also provide a Human Security export course in Uruguay. This will provide clear guidance on how personnel can recognise, report and appropriately respond and refer children affected by armed conflict.

Ministry of Defence: Chief Scientific Advisers

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many meetings he had with his Department’s Chief Scientific Adviser from 1 June to 31 August 2019.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: Between 1 June 2019 and 31 August 2019 - there have been no meetings between the Secretary of State for Defence and the Department's Chief Scientific Adviser (CSA).The CSA oversees a network of Scientific Advisers deployed in Front Line Commands and across Defence, providing scientific advice at all levels. Additionally, CSA is a member of the top-level governance groups in the Ministry of Defence such as the Investment Approvals Board and Executive Committee. As such, there are many opportunities to ensure advice to Ministers has benefited from scientific advice in addition to 1:1 meetings between the CSA and Ministers.

Army

Christian Matheson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he he has taken to ensure the preparedness of the British Army for the UK leaving the EU.

Mark Lancaster: The British Army's preparedness is being addressed as part of the MOD's overall preparations for the UK leaving the EU.

Department for Work and Pensions

State Retirement Pensions: Females

Christian Matheson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many women affected by the increase in state pension age for women born in the 1950s died before receiving their state pension.

Guy Opperman: It is not possible to answer the question as no government holds this information.. Data on deaths by single year of age is published by the Office of National Statistics and is available at the link below: https://www.ons.gov.uk/file?uri=/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/datasets/deathsregisteredinenglandandwalesseriesdrreferencetables/2018/referencetablesfinalv22.xlsx

Personal Independence Payment: Motability

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what financial support her Department provides to claimants of personal independence payments who have had their motability car removed pending appeal and who need to travel to hospital appointments.

Justin Tomlinson: Motability allow eligible claimants who joined the Scheme before 2014 to opt to extend their lease for 26 weeks after the DLA payments end (or until a decision on their appeal is heard) and receive a smaller lump sum payment. The NHS are responsible for considering costs relating to travel for hospital appointments under the Healthcare Travel Costs Scheme. This is for people in receipt of a qualifying benefit or who have a low income.

Personal Independence Payment

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people received the enhanced mobility rate of personal independence payments after a successful appeal in the Garston and Halewood constituency in each year since April 2013.

Justin Tomlinson: Information on the number of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) cases in the Garston and Halewood constituency since April 2013 that saw that their mobility award, upon an appeal being cleared, ‘increased up to the enhanced mobility rate’ could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Department for Work and Pensions: Disability

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the disability employment gap is in her Department.

Justin Tomlinson: The disability employment gap is the measure of the difference between the employment rate of disabled people and the employment rate of non-disabled people. It is not therefore something which can be measured at the level of a single organisation. The current disability employment gap in the UK is 28.9 percentage points.

Social Security Benefits

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reason the return envelopes provided for UC50 and ESA50 forms are first class envelopes and the envelopes provided for personal independence payments are second class.

Justin Tomlinson: It is currently DWP policy to use second class post for business reply envelopes. First class business reply envelopes are only used by exception and where there is a clear business need to ensure that the appropriate rate of benefit is paid as speedily as possible.

Children: Maintenance

Douglas Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many paying parents are in maintenance arrears through the Child Maintenance Service; and how much unpaid maintenance remains outstanding in Dunfermline and West Fife constituency.

Mims Davies: At the end of June 2019, there were 260 Paying Parents with unpaid maintenance in the Dunfermline and West Fife constituency. The total amount of unpaid maintenance associated with these Paying Parents was £386,000. Please note the following points: A Paying Parent may be paying towards multiple child maintenance arrangements;These figures do not consider unpaid child maintenance that was arranged by the Child Support Agency;Paying Parents with any amount of unpaid maintenance which was arranged by the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) are considered as having arrears;The count of Paying Parents has been rounded to the nearest 10, the value has been rounded to the nearest £1,000.

Children: Maintenance

Douglas Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reason Regulation 4(1) of the Child Support (Child Support Maintenance) Calculations Regulations 2012 provides that a relevant tax year for the calculation of child maintenance by a paying parent is any one of the six years immediately preceding the date of request and not the most recent year for which tax data is available.

Mims Davies: To make an initial maintenance assessment, regulations provide that HM Revenue & Customs share income information for the most recent complete tax year they hold within the previous six years. This process is repeated annually to ensure the assessment is based on the most recent data HMRC hold and in line with a paying parent’s circumstances. More recent income data can be used in specific circumstances where a paying parent’s income has changed in a way that breaks the 25% tolerance, requiring their calculation to move from historic to current income.

Social Security Benefits: Appeals

Douglas Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the time taken for benefit claimants to receive decision letters containing a four week deadline for appeal by post; and what assessment she has made of the effect of postal delays on the time available for claimants to make an appeal.

Justin Tomlinson: Appeals about DWP decisions are made directly to Her Majesty’s Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS). Our correspondence, including decision letters, is issued via 2nd class post in keeping with our responsibility to efficiently use public funds; so we expect it to arrive within three working days, including Saturdays. There are no plans to change the start date of the period to make an appeal. The extension of that period, including the consideration of any postal delay, is made by HMCTS.

Children: Maintenance

Douglas Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of Child Maintenance Service income challenges by paying parents were as a result of private pension payments not being deducted from income calculations.

Mims Davies: The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

Universal Credit: Fraud

Ruth George: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many interviews under caution have been held with victims of universal credit fraud.

Guy Opperman: The information you requested could only be provided by manually examining a substantial number of individual cases. The Department estimates that this would incur disproportionate costs.

Maternity Pay

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent estimate her Department has made of the processing times for applications made for statutory maternity pay.

Mims Davies: Statutory Maternity Pay is administered by employers and as such the Department has no estimate regarding the processing times for applications.

Employment: Disability

Stephen Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent estimate she has made of the disability employment gap in her Department.

Justin Tomlinson: The disability employment gap is the measure of the difference between the employment rate of disabled people and the employment rate of non-disabled people. It is not therefore something which can be measured at the level of a single organisation. The current disability employment gap in the UK is 28.9 percentage points.

Department for Work and Pensions: Disability and Health

Stephen Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department has implemented the voluntary reporting framework on disability, mental health and well-being in the workplace introduced in November 2018.

Justin Tomlinson: The Department have implemented the framework and the report is due to be published by the end of October 2019.

Universal Credit

Gillian Keegan: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to review universal credit assessment periods when claimants receive two paychecks within the same assessment period due to a change of employer.

Will Quince: Universal Credit seeks to take earnings into account in a way that is fair and transparent. The amount of Universal Credit paid reflects, as closely as possible, the actual circumstances of a household during each monthly assessment period, including any earnings reported by their employer or employers during the assessment period, regardless of when they were paid, or which month they relate to. Assessment periods allow for Universal Credit awards to be adjusted on a monthly basis, ensuring that if a claimant’s income changes, they do not have to wait several months for a corresponding change in their Universal Credit award. Claimants can always discuss the implications of any changes in earnings with their case managers and work coach and can be referred to personal budgeting support to help them manage their budgeting.

Health and Safety Executive: Finance

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to ensure the Health and Safety Executive receives adequate resources to undertake its enforcement responsibilities.

Mims Davies: DWP and HSE officials meet regularly to discuss resources and performance against its Business Plan objectives. This includes recognising the importance of enforcement as one of the tools employed by HSE to secure effective management and control of risk in GB workplaces.

Social Security Benefits: Payments

Neil Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what comparative assessment she has made of the average length of time for a claimant to receive their first (a) legacy benefit payment and (b) universal credit payment in the each of the last two years.

Will Quince: The design of Universal Credit is fundamentally different to legacy benefits, so any assessment would not reflect this adequately. The Department published an assessment of legacy benefit and Universal Credit payment timeliness in its Annual Report and Accounts 2018-19. This showed that the speed of Universal Credit payments has continued to improve during its rollout and the Department continues to introduce improvements. Between February 2018 to February 2019 Universal Credit payment timeliness improved with 86% of new claims to Universal Credit receiving full payment on time in February 2019, an increase from 78% in February 2018. Monthly assessment periods align to the way the majority of employees are paid, and how utility companies and other service providers collect payments. This allows Universal Credit to be adjusted each month, which means that if a claimant’s income falls they will not have to wait several months for a rise in their Universal Credit. Overall, Universal Credit provides more tailored support, and makes it more financially rewarding to increase earnings when in employment compared to legacy benefits.

Universal Credit: Payments

Neil Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of whether households have reduced their expenditure on non-essential items in order to avoid debt while waiting for their first payment of universal credit.

Will Quince: For new claimants applying for Universal Credit (UC), new claim advances provide access to a payment for those in financial need, which can be accessed quickly, until their first UC payment is due. In addition to this, the Department has delivered a number of improvements to support claimants during their first assessment period, such as removing waiting days and paying those claimants moving from Housing Benefit onto Universal Credit a two week ‘transitional housing payment’. We are also introducing a two-week run on for eligible claimants of Income Support, Jobseeker’s Allowance and Employment and Support Allowance from July 2020. For those who need help with budgeting, support is available for Universal Credit claimants via the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS). MaPS will help UC claimants with personal budgeting and money management through its free helpline, printed guides and digital guidance.

Universal Credit: Payments

Neil Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of introducing a policy of backdating universal credit payments.

Will Quince: Under Universal Credit, claims may be backdated, by up to one calendar month, in some circumstances for vulnerable claimants who may be delayed in claiming Universal Credit through no fault of their own. Claims may also be backdated in specific circumstances when a couple separates to ensure that there is no gap in entitlement between the couple claim and the new claim made by a single claimant. In order to provide the best possible support to our claimants it is important that we are able to have discussions about their claim and circumstances at the earliest possible opportunity, whether to support them back into work or to provide or signpost other support and guidance. It is therefore important that backdating provisions are used in specific circumstances, and that all claimants are encouraged to engage with us at the earliest opportunity.

Universal Credit

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what her timescale is for the completion of managed migration to universal credit.

Will Quince: We have already said that following the pilot we will report back to Parliament on progress and findings, and at that point will determine the process for bringing forward further legislation to move claimants beyond the pilot phase. The Universal Credit (Managed Migration Pilot and Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2019 introduced in July 2019 allow the Department to pilot moving no more than 10,000 claimants across to Universal Credit from legacy benefits and is expected to last until November 2020. Draft regulations were sent for scrutiny to the independent Social Security Advisory Committee (SSAC) in 2018. The Committee submitted them for a formal public consultation, receiving 455 responses - the Government accepted, in whole or in part, all but one of the Committee’s recommendations.

Children: Maintenance

Martyn Day: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 5 September 2019 to Question 285165 on Children: Maintenance, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of devolving the calculation of child maintenance liabilities to Scotland.

Mims Davies: Child Maintenance remains a power that is reserved at Westminster and no formal assessment has been made of the potential merits of devolving the calculation of liabilities to Scotland. It is important that the rules used to calculate a child maintenance liability are applied consistently to avoid the complexities for clients that would result from applying different rules to different parts of the UK.

Access to Work Programme

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans she has for Access to Work to fund communication support for disabled people who are required to undertake work-related activity as a condition for receiving employment and support allowance.

Justin Tomlinson: I have no plans to expand the eligibility criteria for Access to Work. Access to Work is a grant that provides practical and financial support for individuals whose health or disability affects the way that they do their job. The type of support is tailored to an individual’s needs and can include travel to work, support workers, communication support and specialist aids and equipment for the individual, as well as advice for employers and awareness raising sessions for their staff. Access to Work does not replace the duty an employer has under the Equality Act to make reasonable adjustments. Instead it provides support that is over and above that which is a reasonable adjustment. To be eligible for this grant, the person must be in work or about to enter work. This can include disabled people who are undertaking employment and support allowance permitted work, support permitted work and permitted work Personal Capability assessment as a work-related activity.

Access to Work Programme

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what standards are in place to ensure that disabled people are effectively supported when making a claim to the Access to Work scheme.

Justin Tomlinson: Access to Work (ATW) applicants can apply for the scheme in a number of ways including telephony, on-line and by text-phone. The on-line service is continually being improved to ensure it meets accessibility and user needs. There is also information about how to make an application and a range of supporting material on Gov.uk. This includes use of British Sign Language (BSL) video relay service and alternative formats such as braille, large print and audio CDs.

Food Banks

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many (a) formal and (b) informal referrals to food banks have been made by Jobcentre Plus in each of the most recent 12 months for which data are available.

Will Quince: Jobcentres do not refer claimants to food banks or issue food bank vouchers. The Department has long-standing guidance in place which allows staff to signpost customers in writing to a food bank where they have asked for details, and if all sources of statutory support have been exhausted. Jobcentre Plus staff are not required to keep records of the number of benefit claimants signposted to food banks in their local area, and we have no current plans to develop official national statistics on food bank use.

Sign Language

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 8 May 2018 to Question 141857, approach on sign language, what lessons have been learned from the Scottish Government’s to British Sign Language to inform the Government’s thinking in England and Wales.

Justin Tomlinson: Existing equality legislation already means employers, service providers and public bodies have to provide services in BSL and other formats when it is reasonable to do so. The Public Sector Equality Duty requires public bodies to have due regard to the needs of all those with protected characteristics. We don’t think new legislation would add to that. However, we are actively considering lessons from Scotland’s approach to inform our thinking.

Department for Work and Pensions: Written Questions

Christian Matheson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when she plans to answer Question 287927 tabled on 6 September 2019 by the hon. Member for the City of Chester.

Guy Opperman: This was answered on the 3rd October 2019.

Jobcentre Plus: Interpreters and Sign Language

Paul Farrelly: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the proportion of Job Centre Plus offices that have (a) British Sign Language and (b) language interpreters.

Mims Davies: Under the Equality Act 2010, DWP must make suitable provision to communicate with claimants who do not speak English or Welsh (for people residing in Wales), or who are deaf, hard of hearing or speech impaired. It is DWP policy to use an interpreter when we need to communicate with a claimant who:cannot communicate adequately in English (or, in Wales, Welsh);has complex needs and, or may need additional support; andcannot provide their own interpreter. Since the 1st January 2018 Thebigword has provided Foreign Language and British Sign Language (BSL) services for the DWP staff and customers. All Jobcentres are able to access the service provided by Thebigword. The services available for BSL are face to face interpreting and Video Relay Service. The services available for foreign language interpreters are face to face interpreting, telephone interpreting and written translations.

State Retirement Pensions: Females

Conor McGinn: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of women affected by changes to the stage pension age, in (a) St Helens, (b) Liverpool City Region and (c) the UK in each year until 2029-30.

Guy Opperman: Information on the numbers affected, by constituent country and further regional breakdowns, is not held by the Department for Work and Pensions. However, the most recent population breakdowns for the UK and by region can be found here: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/populationprojections

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Tree Planting

Sue Hayman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much her Department has spent from the public purse on tree planting in each of the last five years.

Zac Goldsmith: Defra supports tree planting in England through three main established funding mechanisms: The Woodland Creation Planning Grant; The Woodland Carbon Fund; and Countryside Stewardship (formerly the England Woodland Grant Scheme). Collectively, spend on these schemes over the last five years is as follows: 2014-15 - £7.9M2015-16 - £2.3M2016-17 - £2.0M2017-18 - £4.2M2018-19 - £4.6M Over the last five years Defra has also supported tree planting through its arms lengths bodies and directly funded projects such as the Trees for Schools programme – current spend £2.5M. Defra is also supporting a new Northumberland Forestry Partnership, and the planting of three new sites in Northumberland to coincide with the UK hosting COP26 international climate conference.

Primates: Pets

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she plans to bring forward legislative proposals to ban the keeping of primates as pets.

Zac Goldsmith: I recognise the concerns that have been expressed regarding the welfare of primates kept as pets, given the complex needs of these animals. Therefore, we will issue a Call for Evidence to better understand: (i) the scale of ownership of primates as pets, (ii) how they are acquired, and (iii) the merits and impacts of potential restrictions on ownership, sale, breeding and trade. The Call for Evidence will be published in due course.

Tree Planting

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which Committee on Climate Change scenario is being used to calculate any costs associated with afforestation and tree planting outside of woodlands to meet the UK’s net zero target.

Zac Goldsmith: Tree planting will play an important role in meeting net zero greenhouse gas emissions. By early next year we will consult on a Tree Strategy for England which will consider tree planting rates in the context of net zero. The Committee on Climate Change (CCC) estimate the cost of net zero to be 1-2% of GDP in 2050, and the Government’s initial high-level analysis falls within the same range. These figures do not include the significant benefits from decarbonising the economy, including opportunities from clean growth, which could offset a proportion, or potentially all of these costs. HMT has accepted the CCC’s recommendation for HMT to conduct a review into the costs of decarbonisation, the world’s first comprehensive review by a finance ministry into the costs of transitioning to a net zero economy.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Brexit

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what meetings her Department has had with Liverpool City Council to discuss preparations for leaving the EU without a withdrawal agreement.

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what meetings her Department has had with Knowsley Borough Council to discuss preparations for leaving the EU without a withdrawal agreement.

George Eustice: We have communicated on a range of topics with local authorities, including in a conference call on 13 August along with other Government departments. Each local Authority has established a Brexit lead officer to liaise with government. Defra has identified areas where our exit preparations impact local authorities. For instance Environmental Health Officers are responsible for issuing Export Health Certificates on fish and we have discussed capacity and the requirements with them. We regularly contribute to a cross-government working group which coordinates engagement with local authorities. Information on leaving the EU without a withdrawal agreement relevant to a particular local authority can then be accessed by the local authority via shared channels, such as:MHCLG’s Local government Brexit preparedness page on GOV.UK;MHCLG’s weekly e-bulletin to local authorities setting out all relevant updates for the week;Presenting information at MHCLG’s monthly delivery board to local authority representatives;The Food Standards Agency’s Smarter Comms platform accessed directly by regulatory officers in local authorities;Cascading information via MHCLG’s network of nine regional local authority Chief Executives;Using MHCLG’s newly established network of Brexit lead officers in each local authority;Direct email messages to regulatory leads in relevant local authorities;Engaging with and passing information through regulatory bodies such as the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health, the Chartered Trading Standards Institute or the Association of Port Health Authorities. Information on a range of Defra’s exit projects if we leave the EU without a withdrawal agreement has been made available to local authorities through these channels. This includes information on:Exporting fish and shellfish (Export Health Certificates);Importing fish and fisheries products (Catch Certificates);Import control systems for animals, products of animal origin and high risk food and feed;Food labelling changes;The protection of habitats and species;Waste;Guidance for businesses exporting goods to the EU. Local authorities have been invited to attend various meetings, including workshops, training events and roadshows on topics including:Changes to environmental regulations;Changes to food and farming;Changes to exports of animals and animal products;Changes to imports of animals and animal products;MHCLG’s regional roadshows on how local authorities will be affected by exiting the EU without a withdrawal agreement in Wakefield, Birmingham, London and Cambridge;Training on catch certificates in Wales, Inverness, Bristol and Newcastle;Changes to trading standards regulatory functions in Exeter;A series of teleconferences on changes to export health certificates;A webinar on changes affecting border or coastal local authorities;A workshop on regulatory services hosted by MHCLG with input from other departments including Defra.

Inland Waterways: St Helens

Conor McGinn: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of (a) restoring sections of and (b) extending the Sankey Canal to join the main canal system through the Leeds and Liverpool Canal.

Rebecca Pow: The Department has not made any such assessments. Responsibility for canals, including their operation, development or restoration rests with the bodies that own them and for which they are the navigation authority. For the majority of the canal network in England and Wales the navigation authority is the Canal and River Trust (CRT). Responsibility for different sections of the Sankey Canal falls to three Unitary Authorities, the CRT, and a limited company.

Home Office

Knives: Sales

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans her Department has to bring forward legislative proposals to restrict the sale of toy knives.

Kit Malthouse: It is illegal to sell knives and certain articles with blade or point to anyone under 18 in England and Wales, by virtue of the Criminal Justice Act 1988. To go further in preventing the sale of knives to under 18s, the Offensive Weapons Act 2019 includes a provision that will stop knives from being sent to residential addresses after they are bought online, unless the seller has arrangements in place with the delivery company to ensure that the product would not be delivered into the hands of a person under 18.The definition of knife in the Criminal Justice Act includes any other article which has a blade or which is sharply pointed and made or adapted for use in causing injury to a person. These words carry their normal meaning and we expect retailers to act responsibly and to consider carefully whether an item could commonly be defined as a knife.

Knives: Toys and Games

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans her Department has to bring forward legislative proposals to restrict the sale of toy knives.

Kit Malthouse: It is illegal to sell knives and certain articles with blade or point to anyone under 18 in England and Wales, by virtue of the Criminal Justice Act 1988. To go further in preventing the sale of knives to under 18s, the Offensive Weapons Act 2019 includes a provision that will stop knives from being sent to residential addresses after they are bought online, unless the seller has arrangements in place with the delivery company to ensure that the product would not be delivered into the hands of a person under 18.The definition of knife in the Criminal Justice Act includes any other article which has a blade or which is sharply pointed and made or adapted for use in causing injury to a person. These words carry their normal meaning and we expect retailers to act responsibly and to consider carefully whether an item could commonly be defined as a knife.

Children in Care: EU Nationals

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to Section 20 rules to apply to stay in the UK under the EU Settlement Scheme, what support her Department is providing to local authorities to enable them to work with looked-after children that are EU nationals.

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to ensure that children in care that are EU nationals are informed of the potential requirement to apply to secure their status in the UK.

Brandon Lewis: The Home Office has put in place a comprehensive vulnerability strategy to ensure that the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) is accessible for all, including children in care.For England, Scotland and Wales local authorities (LAs) and for Northern Ireland Health and Social Care Trusts (HSCTs) will have responsibility in ensuring that applications are made on behalf of all looked after children for whom they have full parental responsibility and who are EEA citizens or family members and to assist with accessing services with status once granted.If the child is cared for under shared care provisions, it is LAs and HSCTs responsibility to ensure that the child, and their carers, are aware of the need to make an application to the EUSS, signposting them to practical support where needed.To help local authorities prepare for the launch of the EU Settlement Scheme, the Home Office made several recommendations. Identifying the eligible cohort of children and care leavers was one of the recommendations, along with identifying resource to manage this work stream.The Children Act 1989 provides the legal framework for local authorities to promote a child’s welfare and best interests, setting out statutory duties in relation to looked after children in England, with respective authorities for the devolved administrations. Statutory guidance is provided by DfE in relation to this. This statutory duty to promote best interests, coupled with funding provided to local authorities under a new burdens assessment should ensure that this important work will be done.Additionally, the Home Office has been holding monthly teleconferences for local authority staff who are undertaking this work. A designated help-line number has also been made available for local authority staff to contact trained caseworkers in the Home Office should they need to discuss any aspect of the EU Settlement Scheme.

Police: Recruitment

Conor McGinn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many police officers he plans to recruit in (a) St Helens, (b) Merseyside and (c) the UK in each year until 2024-25.

Kit Malthouse: The Government has committed to increasing the number of police officers by an additional 20,000 over the next three years.Up to 6,000 additional officers will be recruited in the first wave by the end of 2020/21 and will be shared among the 43 territorial police forces in England and Wales. The allocation of officers between forces and plans for recruitment in future years will be announced in due course.

Police: Labour Turnover

Conor McGinn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate he has made of the number of police officers that will leave the service in (a) St Helens, (b) Merseyside and (c) the UK in each year until 2024-25.

Kit Malthouse: The Home Office does not hold this information.

Police: Training

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, by what date his Department plans for the 20,000 new police officers to have completed training at the National College of Policing at Hendon.

Kit Malthouse: The Government has committed to increasing the number of police officers by an additional 20,000 over the next three years.Chief Constables are responsible for providing training for every recruit. We are working with the College of Policing and the National Police Chiefs’ Council to ensure all forces are supported in recruitment and training needs.

Police Service of Northern Ireland: Deployment

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many police officers from (a) England and Wales, (b) Scotland and (c) non-geographic forces were deployed to support the Police Service of Northern Ireland in each of the last five years.

Kit Malthouse: The Home Office does not centrally hold the information requested.However, on 4 September 2019, the Deputy Chief Constable for the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) stated, in evidence to the Home Affairs Select Committee, that PSNI have not had recourse to request mutual aid from other police forces in the UK since 2013.

Cabinet Office

Voting Rights: British Nationals Abroad

Caroline Nokes: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, when he plans to bring forward legislative proposals on votes for life for British citizens living abroad.

Kevin Foster: The Government is committed to scrapping the arbitrary rule preventing British citizens who have lived abroad for more than 15 years from participating in UK parliamentary elections.That is why we supported Glyn Davies’ Private Members’ Bill on overseas electors. We were therefore disappointed the Bill did not progress through its Report stage in the Commons on 22 March 2019. Nevertheless, the Government remains committed to implementing votes for life.Changes to the franchise require Parliamentary approval and have to be made significantly in advance of elections, to enable administrators to implement the change and to ensure citizens are aware of the change to their rights.We will make an announcement on our intentions in due course.

Dominic Cummings

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, under what authority Special Adviser Dominic Cummings has the ability to (a) hire and (b) dismiss staff from government departments.

Kevin Foster: Special Advisers must adhere to the Code of Conduct for Special Advisers. As it states in the code of conduct, all Special Adviser appointments must be approved by the Prime Minister and the Prime Minister may terminate employment by withdrawing his consent to an individual appointment at any time.Dominic Cummings operates under the authority of his appointing Minister, the Prime Minister. An area which the PM has asked Dominic Cummings to lead on is decisions concerning the management of Special Advisers.As the code of conduct sets out, Special Advisers cannot exercise any power in relation to the management of any part of the Civil Service, except in relation to another Special Adviser.

Food Supply: North East

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Operation Yellowhammer document, what plans are in place for the adequate supply and distribution of food to the North East in the event of disruptions to supply resulting from the UK leaving the EU without a deal; and to what extent those plans account for the potential effect of food price increases on low income groups.

Kevin Foster: The UK has a high level of food security built upon a diverse range of sources including strong domestic production and imports from other countries. This will continue to be the case whether we leave the EU with or without a deal. While we are making sensible preparations for all eventualities, there are no plans for the Government to either store food or reroute supplies. The expertise, capability and levers to plan for and respond to food supply disruption lies with the industry. This includes looking at alternative supply routes and suppliers.The Government has well established ways of working with the food industry on food supply chain issues and we are using these to support preparations for leaving the EU. This includes working with Defra’s long established Food Chain Emergency Liaison Group, which allows Government and industry to work together to plan for and respond to any food supply disruption.The most important drivers of change in the cost of food on an ongoing basis are commodity prices, exchange rates and oil prices. This will continue to be the case once the UK has left the EU; the UK Government has no direct control of these factors.

List of Ministerial Responsibilities

Nic Dakin: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will publish an updated List of Ministerial Responsibilities online.

Kevin Foster: I refer the Honourable Member to the answer given to PQ286680 9 September 2019

Ministers: Conduct

Jon Trickett: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent assessment he has made of the efficacy of the Ministerial Code.

Nic Dakin: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether there have been any changes to the Ministerial Code of Conduct since July 2019.

Kevin Foster: Responsibility for the Ministerial Code rests with the Prime Minister. The Ministerial Code sets out the standards of propriety and behaviour expected of all Ministers and was updated and re-issued by the Prime Minister on 23 August.The updated Code includes a new section setting out the policy for ministers taking parental leave and other extended absences from Government, as well as a number of updates, including obligations related to Cabinet confidentiality and the acceptance of foreign decorations.

Brexit

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will publish the results of the Government's stress testing of the effect of the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

Kevin Foster: Operation Yellowhammer is a cross government programme of work to ensure that government is prepared to mitigate the potential impacts of Brexit in the event the UK leaves without a deal.In response to the Humble Address motion passed on Monday 9 September, The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster published the Yellowhammer reasonable worst case planning assumptions dated 2 August on gov.uk: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/government-response-to-humble-address-motion

Cabinet Office: Crispin Odey

David Linden: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will publish (a) the outcome of all meetings and (b) all call logs between Ministers of his Department and Mr Crispin Odey.

Kevin Foster: Details of Ministers’ meetings are published quarterly in arrears on GOV.UK.

Brexit

Mary Creagh: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 30 September 2019 to Question 290970 on Brexit, when he plans to publish the costs of the Get Ready for Brexit campaign for (a) August and (b) September 2019.

Kevin Foster: The Cabinet Office has undertaken to publish information relating to ongoing expenditure on the public information campaign as part of the department’s monthly data transparency releases. The published information will be available on a regular basis on GOV.UK here: (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cabinet-office-spend-data)

Food Supply: Ilford North

Wes Streeting: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, when he plans to provide a substantive answer to Question 286311, tabled on 3 September 2019 by the hon. Member for Ilford North.

Kevin Foster: If we have to leave with no deal, there will not be an overall shortage of food in the UK. Consumers have access to a wide range of food products when they shop and this will continue once we leave the EU.As a responsible Government, we are preparing for the possibility of no-deal and have put in place plans to minimise disruption for the food and farming sector as much as possible.Whilst the capability to ensure resilience and security of food supply is industry-led, Government has well established ways of working with the food industry to minimise potential disruption, including liaison through the Food Chain Emergency Liaison Group (FCELG).

Drugs: Ilford North

Wes Streeting: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, when he plans to provide a substantive answer to Question 286312, tabled on 3 September 2019 by the hon. Member for Ilford North.

Kevin Foster: Our highest priority is for patients to continue to have access to medicines and medical products.DHSC has contacted 448 suppliers of medicines with an EU touchpoint in their supply chain and more than 1300 suppliers of medical devices and clinical consumables in order to understand their supply chains and their proposed contingency measures.DHSC is implementing a multi-layered approach to minimise any supply disruption in a ‘no deal’ exit scenario. This includes supporting suppliers to secure alternative routes away from the short straits, stockpiling where practical, putting in place arrangements to deal with shortages in addition to normal shortage management routes, securing additional warehousing space, improving trader readiness and introducing regulatory flexibility.Our plans should ensure the supply of medicines and medical products remains uninterrupted.

Business: Ilford North

Wes Streeting: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, when he plans to provide a substantive answer to Question 286313, tabled on 3 September 2019 by the hon. Member for Ilford North.

Kevin Foster: The Government is determined to provide certainty to people and businesses on Brexit.We are now making further funding available for ‘no deal’ preparations. The Treasury has provided an additional £2.1bn for ‘no deal’ preparations this year, which doubled the amount of Brexit funding available for 2019-20. The Treasury has now made available £6.3 billion to prepare for Brexit, including £4.2 billion funding this financial year alone. £2 billion of further funding in 2020-21 will help the UK to establish a new relationship with the EU, and capitalise on the opportunities created by Brexit.We continue to engage with business at all levels to ensure industry is prepared for all scenarios. Government is ensuring businesses are ready to leave the EU on 31 October through a national programme of business readiness.

Business: Ilford North

Wes Streeting: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, when he plans to provide a substantive answer to Question 286314, tabled on 3 September 2019 by the hon. Member for Ilford North.

Kevin Foster: Our chemicals sector is world leading, and we want to make sure it continues to succeed. At the same time, the UK is committed to the effective and safe management of chemicals. That will not change when we leave the EU.We have published guidance on this topic online: ‘The chemicals sector and preparing for Brexit’ (available at www.gov.uk/guidance/the-chemicals-sector-and-preparing-for-eu-exit).

Holidays: EU Countries

Wes Streeting: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, when he plans to provide a substantive answer to Question 286315, tabled on 3 September by the hon. Member for Ilford North.

Kevin Foster: Both the UK and the EU have now adopted measures that mean flights will continue after 31 October. This means businesses and citizens can continue to book and fly with confidence. Travellers, including those in Ilford North, planning to travel to the EU should ensure they have complied with all travel advice and have the necessary documentation and insurances, such as International Driving Permits (IDPs) and Green Cards, which will be needed by private motorists.After Brexit the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) card may not be valid. Holiday-makers should get appropriate travel insurance with healthcare cover before going abroad. Guidance is available on visiting the EU after Brexit on gov.uk at: https://www.gov.uk/visit-europe-brexit

Brexit

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will publish the (a) bidders and (b) successful candidates for tender for the Get Ready for Brexit campaign; and what the value of each successful tender was for both (i) external advertising and (ii) analytics.

Kevin Foster: Cabinet Office does not publish the list of bidders for any contract - we only publish the winning bid. This is in line with The Public Contracts Regulations 2015, regulation 108.Information about the contracts we will be using for the “Get Ready for Brexit” public information campaign is already published on GOV.UK here: https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/SearchThe Cabinet Office has undertaken to publish information relating to ongoing expenditure on the public information campaign as part of the department’s monthly data transparency releases. The published information will be available on GOV.UK here: (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cabinet-office-spend-data)

Brexit

Alan Brown: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much money has been spent from the public purse on placing the Government's Brexit notifications in newspapers.

Alan Brown: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, how money has been spent from the public purse on radio campaigns for the Government's Get ready for Brexit campaign.

Alan Brown: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, how money has been spent from the public purse on TV adverts for the Government's Get ready for Brexit campaign.

Alan Brown: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, how money has been spent from the public purse on social media in relation to the Government's Get ready for Brexit campaign.

Kevin Foster: In law the UK is set to leave the EU on 31 October 2019. “Get Ready for Brexit” is a public information campaign providing the facts citizens and businesses need to know about the preparations they need to take to be ready for when the UK leaves the EU.The ‘Get Ready for Brexit’ campaign is running across television, social media, billboards and other platforms.The Cabinet Office has undertaken to publish information relating to ongoing expenditure on the public information campaign as part of the department’s monthly data transparency releases. The published information will be available on GOV.UK here: (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cabinet-office-spend-data)

Cabinet Office: Travel

Ruth Jones: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much his Department spent on ministerial travel by (a) first class, (b) second class and (c) in total in 2017.

Ruth Jones: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much his Department spent on ministerial travel by (a) first class, (b) second class and (c) in total in 2018.

Ruth Jones: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much the Prime Minister's office spent on ministerial travel by (a) first class, (b) second class and (c) in total in 2017.

Ruth Jones: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, and Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much the Prime Minister's office spent on ministerial travel by (a) first class, (b) second class and (c) in total in 2018.

Kevin Foster: The Prime Minister’s Office is an integral part of the Cabinet Office, and the answer is for the Cabinet Office as a whole.The information regarding the spend on travel by (a) first class, (b) second class and (c) in total in 2017 by the Prime Minister’s Office and the Cabinet Office could not be provided without incurring disproportionate cost.

Cabinet Office: Official Hospitality

Ruth Jones: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much his Department spent on refreshments in (a) 2017 and (b) 2018.

Kevin Foster: The Cabinet Office does not routinely collect information on the amount spent on refreshments. They are part of catering figures which can not be disaggregated without incurring disproportionate cost.

Ballot Papers: Visual Impairment

Ian Austin: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department has taken since the judgment issued by Mr Justice Swift in May 2019 that the tactile voting device for blind people was unlawful.

Ian Austin: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to ensure that there is a fully accessible voting option for blind voters, following the judgment in May 2019 by Mr Justice Swift that the tactile voting device was unlawful.

Kevin Foster: The Government continues to work with the Cabinet Office chaired Accessibility of Elections Working Group to make an informed assessment of the most suitable options to take forward. We are due to hold a dedicated meeting on this topic with the Royal National Institute of Blind People shortly.

Department for Exiting the European Union

Body Bags: Wales

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, how many body bags have been stockpiled for use in Wales as part of contingency planning for the UK leaving the EU without a withdrawal agreement.

James Duddridge: The Department for Exiting the European Union does not record this type of information; this aspect of medical consumables provision is devolved to the Welsh Government.

Science: Equipment

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure adequate supplies of scientific equipment in the event of the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

James Duddridge: Both the UK and the EU want to ensure that European manufacturing continues to thrive in an increasingly competitive global market. Many manufactured goods sectors, such as chemicals, aerospace goods, human and veterinary medicines and medical devices, are subject to common rules across the EU. We recognise that adapting to new regulatory requirements takes time, so the Government will provide continuity in goods regulation for a temporary period after exit day.This does not mean that everything will stay the same, but the approach is intended to ensure that in many cases the regulatory requirements for placing a manufactured good on the UK market will not significantly change from those which currently apply. As a result, most goods that meet EU regulatory requirements will continue to be recognised as valid for sale on the UK market.This approach will provide stability in the immediate short term for those businesses who place goods on the UK market, as well as for consumers. It is intended only to apply for a time-limited period after October 31. At the same time the Government is establishing domestic frameworks which mean the UK will have the flexibility to set different rules where it would benefit UK businesses and consumers.

Motor Vehicles: Manufacturing Industries

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, when Ministers and officials of his Department last met with representatives of the UK automotive sector; and what assessment he has made of what Government assistance that sector will require in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.

James Duddridge: DExEU Ministers and officials have regular ongoing engagement with the automotive sector, including world-leading manufacturers and representative bodies such as the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).The Secretary of State for Exiting the EU met with Honda in June. Separately, Ministers met with McLaren and Nissan Europe in June and July. Since 1st January 2019 DExEU Permanent Secretaries have met SMMT on four occasions (with the most recent meeting on September 20th).HMG is committed to ensuring that the UK continues to be one of the most competitive locations in the world for automotive manufacturing after we leave the European Union. Adapting to new regulatory requirements takes time, so the Government will provide continuity in goods regulation for a temporary period after exit day. If UK manufacturers, distributors and importers continue to meet EU requirements, their goods can still be placed on the EU market. Furthermore, tariffs will not apply to car parts.. The Government will continue to apply zero tariffs to steel imports, ensuring the continuation of supply of a key material for UK production, especially in automotive. Tariffs will, however, apply to finished vehicles.The Government has published technical notices on Placing manufactured goods on the UK market after Brexit and Placing manufactured goods on the EU market after Brexit, as well as making dedicated, tailored advice available for the automotive sector: The automotive sector and preparing for Brexit.

Brexit: Negotiations

Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what are the (a) titles and (b) dates of transmission to the EU of all documents prepared for submission to the European Union on current negotiations on the UK's departure from the EU.

James Duddridge: The Government is committed to transparency and will keep the House informed of progress made during the negotiations with the European Union. We will make information available as soon as it is appropriate to do so.

Treasury

Low Incomes: Garston and Halewood

Maria Eagle: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the effect of the UK leaving the EU without a deal on the cost of living for low-income families in Garston and Halewood constituency.

Rishi Sunak: We would prefer to leave with a deal, and we will work in an energetic and determined way to get that better deal. The Government is turbocharging preparations to ensure we are ready to leave on 31 October, and all necessary funds will be made available. HM Treasury routinely monitors economic conditions and risks, and the Government has a range of mechanisms available to support vulnerable people and low resilience places. Furthermore, officials estimate the direct impact of spending decisions on household living standards, and this is a central consideration when allocating public funds. The most recent published record of this is at Budget 2018, and is available here https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/budget-2018-documents

North West: Industry

Maria Eagle: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the fiscal effect of the UK leaving the EU without a deal on the (a) automotive industry, (b) pharmaceutical industry and (c) food industry in the North West in the subsequent (i) three months and (ii) six months.

Maria Eagle: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent fiscal steps his Department has taken to mitigate the effect of the UK leaving the EU without a deal on the (a) automotive industry, (b) pharmaceutical industry and (c) the food industry in the North West; and if he will make a statement.

John Glen: The Government has been stepping up preparations for this outcome. We have made more than £8 billion available to prepare for EU Exit since the referendum, including £2.1 billion specifically for No Deal planning. The government is monitoring businesses and sectors which may be exposed to short-term difficulties as a result of EU Exit. We are considering how best to support businesses across the country in the run up to or immediately after EU Exit.

Funerals: Pre-payment

Stewart Malcolm McDonald: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he plans to publish the results of the regulation of pre-paid funeral plans consultation.

John Glen: HM Treasury launched a call for evidence on the regulation of pre-paid funeral plans in June 2018. The call for evidence confirmed that consumer detriment is present in the pre-paid funeral plan sector and that there is broad demand for the sector to come under compulsory regulation. Consequently, the government intends to bring the pre-paid funeral plan market within the remit of the Financial Conduct Authority and has consulted on the proposed legislative framework to implement this proposal. The consultation closed on 25 August and the government is currently reviewing the responses. A response to the consultation will be published in due course.

Financial Institutions: Investment

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans he has to encourage financial institutions to adopt investment policies which consider (a) human and (b) labour rights.

John Glen: The government is committed to enhancing the stewardship role of financial institutions, in particular asset managers. This includes their responsibility to monitor and actively engage with the companies they invest in and hold such companies to account on material issues. The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has consulted on a revised Stewardship Code which will set high expectations on institutional investors about how they allocate, manage and oversee capital on behalf of their beneficiaries and clients. Signatories will need to report on how they have considered material environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors, and how directors of the companies they invest in have applied section 172 of the Companies Act, in their investment and stewardship decision-making. The revised Code will be published later in 2019. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the FRC have also published a joint discussion on paper on stewardship, which seeks to advance the debate about what effective stewardship should look like, what the minimum expectations should be for financial services firms who invest for clients and beneficiaries, the standards the UK should aspire to and how these might best be achieved. The discussion paper closed on 30 April and the FCA and FRC will publish a feedback statement later in the financial year 2019/20. Government is also committed to ensuring that individuals are able to invest in line with their values and has supported the establishment of the Impact Investing Institute and the Green Finance Institute, which will aim to bring such investments into the mainstream.

Brexit

Kirsty Blackman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps the Government is taking to avoid a recession in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.

John Glen: The Government’s preference is to leave the EU with a deal and is working in an energetic and determined way to get that deal. The Government has been stepping up preparations for leaving the EU. We have made more than £8 billion available to prepare for EU Exit since the referendum, including £2.1 billion specifically for No Deal planning. The fundamentals of the British economy are strong – wages are growing at the fastest rate in over a decade, employment is at a joint record high and the unemployment rate is at its lowest in over 40 years. If the UK leaves the EU without a deal, we will be ready, and HM Treasury will be ready to support the economy if needed.

Financial Services

Chris Ruane: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to Operation Yellowhammer HMG Reasonable Worst Case Planning Assumptions paragraph 8, if he will list all cross-border financial services and their estimated value to the UK economy which will be disrupted in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.

John Glen: Working closely with the regulators, the government has legislated extensively to prepare for a No Deal. This includes the Temporary Permissions Regime (TPR) which will allow EEA firms currently passporting into the UK to continue doing so temporarily after Brexit, and a transitional power for regulators to phase in post-exit regulatory requirements for firms where they have changed as a result of the UK leaving the EU. Following this and wider action by industry and regulators, the Bank of England’s Financial Policy Committee (FPC) judges that “most risks to UK financial stability from disruption to cross-border financial services in a ‘no deal’ scenario have been mitigated”. The FPC have also said that the core of the UK’s financial system is “resilient to and prepared for the wide range of risks it could face, including a disorderly Brexit”. While most risks have been addressed, the FPC is clear that the UK authorities are not able to fully address risks to EEA customers through unilateral action and “in the absence of further action by EU authorities, some disruption is possible.”

NoteMachine: Cash Dispensing

Emma Reynolds: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect on access to cash of NoteMachine's plans to convert approximately 3,000 of its 7,000 free-to-use machines to pay-to-use; and if she will make a statement.

John Glen: The Government recognises that widespread free access to cash remains important to the day-to-day lives of many consumers in the UK. However, it is not appropriate for the Government to comment on individual contracts relating to ATM charges. The Government is engaging, and will continue to engage, with the regulators and industry on this important topic. The Government-established Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) is closely monitoring developments in ATM provision. The PSR regulates LINK, the scheme which runs the UK’s ATM network, and has used its powers to hold LINK to account over LINK’s commitments to preserve the broad geographic spread of the ATM network. LINK has put in place specific arrangements to protect free-to-use ATMs more than 1 kilometre away from the next nearest free-to-use ATM and has also enhanced its Financial Inclusion Programme. More recently, LINK has committed to protecting free access to cash on high streets – where there is a cluster of five or more retailers – that don’t have a free-to-use ATM or a Post Office counter within 1 kilometre. UK Finance has also launched a Community Access to Cash Initiative, offering grants to local communities to improve cash access. In addition, the Government has invested heavily in maintaining a stable network of Post Office branches, with investment of around £2 billion since 2010. Currently, 99% of personal customers and 95% of small business customers can carry out their everyday banking locally at one of the Post Office’s 11,500 branches.

Solar Power: VAT

Alex Norris: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the effect on the environment of the increase in VAT on materials used for solar installations to 20 per cent.

Alex Norris: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department assessed the environmental impact of increasing VAT on materials used for solar installations prior to making that decision.

Jesse Norman: The Government is committed to greening our economy and designed the changes for energy-saving materials to retain as much of the VAT relief as possible for UK households, while complying with EU law. It is anticipated these changes will have a negligible environmental impact. While the UK remains a member of the EU, the Government is obliged to make these changes. It may be possible to amend these rules once the UK has left the EU.

Fossil Fuels: VAT

Alex Norris: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential effect on the environment of an increase in VAT on fossil fuels.

Jesse Norman: HM Treasury has no current plans to increase VAT on fossil fuels. All taxes are kept under review and decisions on tax and their impact are considered as part of the normal fiscal policy making process. The Government takes its environmental responsibilities very seriously and has commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions under the Climate Change Act 2008, as well as the Paris Agreement, which was ratified in November 2016.

Cash Dispensing

Frank Field: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will instruct the Payment Systems Regulator to take the necessary steps to prevent further reductions in access to free-to-use cash machines.

John Glen: The Government recognises the continued importance of free access to cash to the day-to-day lives of many consumers and businesses in the UK. The Government is engaging, and will continue to engage, with the regulators and industry on this important topic. LINK, the scheme that runs the UK’s ATM network, has publicly committed to maintain the broad geographic spread of ATMs and has put in place specific arrangements to protect remote free-to-use ATMs one kilometre or further from the next nearest free-to-use ATM. More recently, LINK has committed to protecting free access to cash on high streets – where there is a cluster of five or more retailers – that don’t have a free-to-use ATM or a Post Office counter within 1 kilometre. UK Finance has also launched a Community Access to Cash Initiative, offering grants to local communities to improve cash access.  The Government established the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) in 2015, with robust powers and a statutory objective to ensure that the UK's payment systems work in the interests of their users. The PSR regulates LINK and is monitoring ATM market developments closely. The PSR has used its powers to hold LINK to account over their public commitments.

Business: Government Assistance

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the oral contribution of 25 September 2019 from the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, Official Report Column 739, if he will publish the criteria for which a business will be judged fundamentally viable in order to receive assistance from the Government in the event of the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

Rishi Sunak: The Government is currently considering how best to support businesses across the country in the event of a no deal exit from the EU. The first port of call for a business facing cashflow issues should be commercial lending. As the Bank of England have said, UK banks are well-prepared, well-capitalised, and publicly committed to continuing to lend to viable businesses. We are monitoring businesses and sectors which may be exposed to short-term difficulties as a result of EU Exit and have been clear that should there be no deal, we would support the economy through whatever appropriate action is necessary, in keeping with the principles of managing public money.

Business: Government Assistance

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the oral contribution of 25 September 2019 from the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, and Minister for the Cabinet Office, Official Report Column 739, what support has been planned for fundamentally viable businesses in the North East in the event of supply chain and trade issues as a result of the UK leaving the EU on 31 October 2019.

Rishi Sunak: Overall, the government has already made over £6.3bn available to prepare for EU exit. This includes £2 billion of core funding for departments for Brexit in 2020-21, which was confirmed in the recent Spending Round. The Government has introduced significant and widespread measures to aid SMEs’ preparations for Brexit. We have created a £108m Brexit Business Preparedness Pot – which is being allocated across government. The Government is supporting the North through devolution deals for, among others, Manchester, Liverpool, and, most recently, North of Tyne, as well as through over £13 billion of investment in better transport across the north. In addition, we have invested over £3 billion from the local growth fund in the region since 2015, and we committed at the last Budget to announce a renewed northern powerhouse strategy. In the event the UK leaves the EU without a deal, the Government has guaranteed funding for certain EU funded projects agreed before the end of 2020. This includes EU funded research projects, where UK organisations successfully bid directly to the European Commission on a competitive basis, and ensures that UK charities, businesses and universities, will continue to receive funding over a project’s lifetime, even in a no deal scenario. The UK economy remains resilient but we will continue to closely monitor any developments in economic risks to firms, sectors, and regions. Should circumstances require, the government will take the necessary action to support the UK economy through the transition.

Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what licences have been granted by the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation with regard to transactions between (a) the UK Government and (b) UK companies and the Iranian Ministry of Defence (MODSAF); and what criteria are used by the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation when granting such an application.

John Glen: As the competent authority for the implementation of financial sanctions in the UK, the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI), which is part of HM Treasury, ensures that financial sanctions are properly understood and enforced. A key function of this role is implementing a licensing regime. OFSI does not publish the details of individual licences granted. OFSI can only issue licences where there are specific and relevant licensing grounds enabling us to do so, and where the conditions in those grounds have been met. The available grounds can be found in the legislation underpinning each particular financial sanctions regime.Each licence application requires OFSI to consider the relevant evidence, which it does on a case by case basis before deciding whether to grant a licence. Further details regarding OFSI’s licensing process can be found in OFSI’s published guidance at the following link: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/685308/financial_sanctions_guidance_march_2018_final.pdf

Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund

Tim Farron: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to his announcement of 28 September 2019 of £16.6 billion to guarantee funding for organisations in receipt of EU programme funding in the event of the UK leaving the EU without a deal, whether charities and non-Governmental organisations that receive funding from the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund will be eligible for that funding.

Rishi Sunak: Organisations that have successfully bid directly to the European Commission for Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF) funding on a competitive basis while the UK is still in the EU are covered by this guarantee. The £16.6 billion of funding announced includes provisions for eligible AMIF recipients.

Banks: North West

Ms Angela Eagle: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the number and proportion of high street bank branches that have closed in (a) the North West, (b) Merseyside and (c) Wallasey in the last 10 years.

John Glen: The Treasury does not make assessments of the bank branch network. The decision to close a branch is a commercial issue for the management team of the bank. However, Government believes it is important the impact on communities must be understood, considered and mitigated where possible. That is why the Government continues to be very supportive of the Access to Banking Standard and the commitment it places on banks to minimise the impact of branch closures, including by ensuring that customers are aware of the alternative ways they can continue to access banking services. These include the Post Office, which allows 95% of business and 99% of personal banking customers to carry out their everyday banking at 11,500 Post Office branches across the UK. The Financial Conduct Authority undertook an analysis of branch closures as part of their Strategic Review of Retail Banking Business Models. This analysis can be found in Annex 1 of the final report.

Thomas Cook: Insolvency

Nic Dakin: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 30 September 2019 to Question 290754, whether the Government met, held discussions or corresponded with the management of the Royal Bank of Scotland to discuss Thomas Cook UK between 14 September 2019 and the collapse of that company.

John Glen: The government has no role in the operational decision making of the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS). The government manages its shareholding in RBS at arm’s length and on a commercial basis through UK Government Investments Ltd (UKGI). UKGI's role is to manage the investment and not the bank itself. Operational decisions, including relating to commercial lending, are made by RBS. Details of ministerial and permanent secretary meetings with external organisations on departmental business are published on a quarterly basis and are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmt-ministers-meetings-hospitality-giftsand-overseas-travel

Brexit

Christian Matheson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what proportion of the funding for preparations for the UK leaving the EU have been allocated to preparations for leaving (a) with and (b) without a deal.

Rishi Sunak: Between 2016 and this summer, the government has provided over £6bn of additional funding for departments and devolved administrations to prepare for EU exit. This has all been core funding, for any scenario. In addition to this core funding, the Chancellor announced £2.1bn on 1 August 2019 specifically to prepare for leaving the EU without a deal. Further to these allocations of funding, on 30 September 2019 the government reaffirmed its funding guarantee if the UK leaves the EU without a deal and should the EU cease to fund UK organisations after EU exit. This guarantee relates to UK organisations in receipt of certain EU programme funding. The total amount expected to be covered by the guarantee would be £4.3bn for this financial year.

Housing: Finance

Catherine West: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the financial effect on the housing sector of the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

Rishi Sunak: We would prefer to leave with a deal, and we will work in an energetic and determined way to get that better deal. The fundamentals of the British economy are strong – wages are growing at the fastest rate in over a decade, employment is at a joint record high and the unemployment rate is at its lowest in over 40 years.  The Government is turbocharging preparations to ensure we are ready to leave with or without a deal on 31 October, and all necessary funds will be made available. HM Treasury routinely monitors economic conditions and risks. Short-term forecasting is undertaken by the Office for Budget Responsibility in line with its statutory duty. In line with its remit, the OBR’s forecasts include the economic and fiscal impact of government policy on EU exit where the effects can be quantified with reasonable accuracy. The Bank of England also provided analysis of the EU exit impacts on the UK economy consistent with its responsibilities on monetary policy.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

YouTube: Artificial Intelligence

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the New York Times report, entitled How YouTube Radicalised Brazil, published 11 August 2019, if she will make an assessment of whether YouTube’s recommendation algorithm has played a role in increasing (a) radicalisation and (b) misinformation.

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make an assessment of the effect of YouTube’s recommendation algorithm on trends in the level of (a) radicalisation and (b) misinformation in the UK in the last three years.

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make an assessment of the potential effect of YouTube’s recommendation algorithm on the dissemination of misinformation on public health.

Matt Warman: The government recognises the importance of algorithms as part of the responsible deployment of digital technologies. To this end, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) established the Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation (CDEI) in November 2018. The Centre provides government with independent, expert advice on measures needed to enable/ensure safe, ethical and innovative uses of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and data-driven technologies. The Centre’s 2019/20 Work Programme is focused on delivering two major reviews, including one on online targeting. The Targeting Review is investigating how data is used to shape people’s online environments via the personalisation and targeting of messages, content and services online. Interim findings were published in July 2019, alongside a literature review, and the Centre will publish its final recommendations this December. In addition, the Online Harms White Paper sets out our plans for world-leading legislation to make the UK the safest place in the world to be online. This will make companies more responsible for their users’ safety online. The government expects companies to proactively engage in looking at tech solutions, including ensuring their algorithms do not inadvertently cause harm. We are working closely with social media platforms to encourage and promote responsible behaviour ahead of the implementation of the online harms regulatory framework.

Children and Young People: Social Media

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent assessment she has made of the effect of social media on vulnerable children and young people.

Matt Warman: On 7 February this year, the UK Chief Medical Officers published their independent systematic evidence review on the impact of social media use on children and young people’s mental health, and recommended next steps and advice for parents and carers. As outlined in the Online Harms White Paper, the government will continue to support research in this area and ensure high quality advice is available to families.

101 Calls: Fees and Charges

Dr Paul Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent assessments he has made of the barriers to 3 network customers connecting to the 101 service due to tariff issues.

Matt Warman: The inclusion or exclusion of the 101 number from mobile phone plans is a decision made by individual telecom providers. Mobile phone customers can adjust their mobile phone settings, so they can ‘opt in’ to chargeable calls and use the 101 number. It is for telecom providers to provide this information to their customers in their plans. The Home Office is removing charges for the 101 police non-emergency number, making the number free of charge for all members of the public from April 2020. The Policy for this sits with the Home Office.

Public Libraries: Statutory Instruments

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether reference copies of statutory instruments are available in hard copy via the public library service; and if she will make a statement.

Helen Whately: Hard copies of statutory instruments are not available from public libraries, but can be purchased from The Stationery Office at https://www.tsoshop.co.uk, or accessed online from legislation.gov.uk.

Tourism: West Midlands

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to increase tourism in the West Midlands.

Helen Whately: A number of the projects funded by the £40 million Discover England Fund, launched by Government in 2016 and delivered by VisitEngland, are based in the West Midlands and aim to support and increase visits and spend by international tourists to the region through the provision of innovative, bookable itineraries and routes:The England’s Waterways project encourages visitors to explore the region by narrowboat, on bikes or on foot via its extensive network of canals and towpaths, and visit towns and cities such as Coventry and Warwick.The England Originals project provides a range of multi-day rail itineraries starting in London that allow tourists to visit historic cities across England; the itinerary Thinkers and Writers includes Worcester and Stratford-upon-Avon.The Experience England project is aimed at the millennial market in China, GCC countries and India, providing itineraries spanning cities and countryside that allow tourists to fly into one airport and out of another. One itinerary brings tourists to Birmingham and attractions such as the Bullring and Cadbury World The region will also host two major arts and culture and sporting events in the coming years:In 2021, Coventry will be the host city for the UK City of Culture and in 2022 Birmingham will host the 22nd Commonwealth Games. The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport has and is continuing to support bringing both events in the West Midlands and both are expected to increase international interest and visitors. In the past three years, IPS data indicates that inbound tourism to the West Midlands has hit new heights, welcoming 2.38 million visitors in 2017 and 2.2 million in 2018. Last year these visitors spent £836 million, a year-on-year increase of 4%.

Hacker House: Grants

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether the application from Hacker House for funding from the Cyber Security Immediate Impact Fund mentioned a trade mission to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories in November 2015.

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether the application Hacker House made to her Department for funding from the Cyber Security Immediate Impact Fund included information on previous funding received by (a) Directors in London and (b) Partners of that company.

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many and what proportion of organisations in receipt of funds through the Cyber Security Immediate Impact Fund were awarded the maximum sum available.

Matt Warman: I have instructed my officials to commission a review that will look into Hacker House’s application for grant funding awarded under the Cyber Skills Immediate Impact Fund (CSIIF). Subject to any legal restrictions (such as data protection laws and duties to protect commercial or confidential information), we will make available the relevant information regarding the decision making process by 31 October 2019 at the latest.

Johnny Mercer: Crucial Academy

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether his Department received oral or written representations from the hon. Member for Plymouth Moor View on the awarding of grant money to Crucial Academy Ltd.

Matt Warman: My Department received no oral or written representations from the Honourable Member for Plymouth Moor View, Johnny Mercer MP, on the awarding of grant money to Crucial Academy.We were made aware by Crucial Academy that Johnny Mercer was a Non-Executive Director for the organisation. He has since left his position at Crucial Academy.

Public Libraries: Closures

Yvette Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if he will publish a list including the postcode locations of the public libraries that have closed between 2010 and the most recent year for which figures are available.

Helen Whately: The Department does not commission specific information relating to the closure of public libraries. The Libraries Taskforce has collected and validated data relating to static libraries in each of the local authorities in England, which includes details of library closures and their post codes. This information covers the period 1 April 2010 and 1 July 2016 and the full dataset is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/673041/Public_libraries_in_England-_extended_basic_dataset__as_on_1_July_2016_.csv/preview

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Alan Brown: What recent steps she has taken to tackle fake news and disinformation online.

Matt Warman: I refer the hon member to my answer to the question raised by the hon member for Paisley & Renfrewshire today at oral questions

Broadband and Mobile Phones: Rural Areas

Sir Henry Bellingham: What steps her Department is taking to increase (a) broadband and (b) mobile phone coverage in rural areas.

Matt Warman: The government is committed to nationwide rollout of future proof, gigabit-capable broadband as soon as possible. Improving mobile coverage in rural areas is also a priority. We are committed to extending geographic mobile coverage to 95% of the UK and we are considering all of the options available to facilitate this.

Youth Centres

Bob Blackman: What steps her Department is taking to increase the provision of youth centres.

Nicky Morgan: My Rt Hon Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced on 30th September a new £500 million Youth Investment Fund, which will be delivered by DCMS. This investment will help build around 60 new youth centres across the country, refurbish around 360 existing youth facilities, and provide over 100 mobile facilities for harder to reach areas. The fund will also support the provision and coordination of high-quality services for young people, and an investment in the youth workforce.

Mobile Phones: Scotland

Stephen Kerr: What recent steps she has taken to increase the (a) strength and (b) reliability of mobile phone signals in Scotland.

Matt Warman: The Government wants the UK to have high-quality mobile coverage where people live, work and travel, including Scotland, and we are committed to extending geographic mobile coverage to 95% of the UK.There is currently 77% 4G geographic coverage from at least one Mobile Network Operator for the Stirling Local Authority area, up from 49% in June 2017. We are in discussions with the Mobile Network Operators about their proposal for a Shared Rural Network to improve coverage. We will consider all options.I also welcome Ofcom’s proposal for their forthcoming spectrum auction, which aims to deliver two operators to 90% geographic mobile coverage.

Sports: Tickets

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: What recent assessment she has made of the effect on spectators of ticket touting for sporting events.

Helen Whately: We are committed to cracking down on unacceptable behaviour in the ticketing market and improving sports fans’ chances of buying tickets at a reasonable price.We have strengthened legislation in this area, and support the work of the enforcement agencies in going after those who seek to flout the law.Through the Birmingham Commonwealth Games Bill we are also seeking to ban unauthorised touting of tickets for the Commonwealth Games in 2022.

House of Commons Commission

Members: Bullying

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the right hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington, representing the House of Commons Commission, what estimate the Commission has made of the number of violent threats made against hon. members in each of the last five years.

Tom Brake: The House of Commons Commission does not hold specific figures regarding the violent threats made against hon. Members or crimes as the information will be spread across the 45 UK police forces.The police Parliamentary Liaison and Investigation Team (PLaIT) is a specialist unit based at Westminster that investigate crimes and incidents that take place on the Parliamentary Estate. Since April 2017 they have collated the following figures:April 2017–March 2018: 152April 2018–March 2019: 353April 2019–May 2019: 43The figures are reported crimes to PLaIT with relevance to threats, abuse or intimidation towards MPs and their offices only. It does not include other work that PLaIT investigates. The figures do not include ones held by other forces.

Prime Minister

Prime Minister: Crispin Odey

David Linden: To ask the Prime Minister, if he will publish (a) the outcome of all meetings and (b) all call logs between his office and Mr Crispin Odey.

Boris Johnson: Details of Ministers’ meetings are published quarterly on GOV.UK.